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The brothers Ludim and Luis Alfonso Zamudio Lerma, accused of supplying precursor chemicals to the Sinaloa Cartel, have woven a network of companies in Culiacán involving their relatives, one of which was a supplier to the Sinaloa Science Center during the administration of Quirino Ordaz Coppel.
The US Treasury Department identified the Zamudio Lerma brothers, Ludim Zamudio Ibarra, Luis Gerardo Flores Madrid, Ernesto Machado Torres and José Santana Arredondo Beltrán as being involved in the illicit trade of methamphetamines and fentanyl.
According to the US government, the network led by the Zamudio brothers is responsible for providing precursor chemicals directly to cartel members and operating laboratories.
The Zamudio family, states the Treasury Department, owns the companies Aceros y Refacciones del Humaya, Farmacia Ludim, Inmobiliaria del Río Humaya, Operadora Zait, Operadora del Humaya and Operadora Parque Alamedas.
With the companies, they indicate, they have carried out or attempted to carry out activities or transactions that have substantially contributed, or represent a considerable risk of contributing to the international proliferation of illicit drugs or their means of production.
Family Networks
According to the Public Registry of Property records, Ludim and Luis Alfonso partnered with his wife and children to incorporate the companies.
The companies mentioned by the US authorities were incorporated in Culiacán between 2003 and 2006.
Operadora del Humaya was created in 2003 with Ludim Zamudio Lerma and his wife América Ibarra as shareholders, with the corporate purpose of buying, selling, importing, exporting and distributing all kinds of automotive spare parts, general mechanical services, and buying, selling and leasing real estate.
Two years later, Operadora del Humaya was the fuel supplier for the Sinaloa Science Center during 2019.
The contract was signed between Ludim Zamudio Ibarra as legal representative of the company; and Luis Arturo León Tavera, as director of the Science Center.
With the contract, the company grants a credit of up to 30 thousand pesos per fortnight with which workers could refuel official vehicles by means of a smart chip.
On the 15th and last day of each month, the company sent to the CCS the invoice for the fuel consumed. The contract was in effect from February 1 to December 31, 2019.
Also in 2003, Ludim and his wife created Inmobiliaria del Río Humaya, and in 2012 their sons Ludim and Miguel Ángel Zamudio Ibarra entered as shareholders; and in 2019 their son Edson Armando.
In 2004, Luis Alfonso Zamudio Lerma, Ludim’s brother, created the company Inomibliaria Zait, associated with his wife Angelina Beatriz Iturríos; and in 2013 it was dissolved.
In 2006, Ludim and his wife formed Operadora Parque Alamedas, which continues active, and in 2018 their sons Ludim, Miguel Antonio, Edson Armando and Alexis Zamudio Ibarra entered as shareholders.
The purpose of the company is the purchase, sale, import and distribution of all kinds of automotive spare parts, among others.
The company Aceros y Refacciones del Humaya was registered in 2006 and states that it is a spin-off of another company created in 1990, and its partners are Luis Alfonso, Ludim, Jorge Alberto, Daniel and Ángel Guillermo Zamudio Lerma; Manuel Zamudio and Manuela Lerma.
In addition to the companies indicated by the Treasury Department, two other companies created by the Zamudio brothers appear in the Public Registry of Property.
In 2006, Ludim and América created Inmobiliaria Lemaz and in 2010 it was liquidated.
The company was dedicated to act as an advisor, commission agent, intermediary, broker and manager in the real estate industry…
Grupo Zamrosa, registered in 2009, was founded by Luis Alfonso Zamudio Lerma, David Elías Rosales Suárez and Dabiel Zamudio Lerma.
The company was dissolved in 2016 and had as its object the purchase-sale, lease, sublease of bars and/or restaurants.
José Antonio Arredondo Beltrán, also indicated by the Treasury, has a company that is not among those reported last week.
The company was registered in 2012 in partnership with Ubaldo López Beltrán, Hugo Florencio Medina López and Juan José López Guerra.
Hugo Florencio Medina was a candidate for State Attorney General in 2017 and participated in the process in which Juan José Ríos Estavillo was elected.
Since 1992 he worked in the Prosecutor’s Office as Public Prosecutor, in the direction of Process Control and as deputy director of the State Judicial Police.
When he became associated with Arredondo Beltrán, he had already left the Prosecutor’s Office and was the owner of the company Proveedora de Servicios Segimex.
The Treasury Department also pointed out Ernesto Machado Torres and Luis Gerardo Flores Madrid, who do not appear as partners in any company registered in Sinaloa.
Flores Madrid, according to Treasury, allegedly works directly for Ovidio Guzman Lopez; and Ernesto Machado and Jose Santana are operators of laboratories that produce 10 or more pounds of fentanyl and methamphetamine per production cycle.
The chemicals for the labs, according to the U.S. government, are provided by the Zamudio Lerma brothers and Ludim Zamudio Ibarra.
“The Zamudio Lerma brothers and their network enable the production of synthetic drugs that devastate American lives while enriching the Sinaloa Cartel’s leadership,” OFAC Director Andrea Gacki said in a statement.
She said that “depriving this network of access and resources will hinder the Sinaloa Cartel’s ability to produce and traffic the illicit drugs it depends on.
OFAC prohibited all transactions by U.S. persons or persons within (or transiting through) the United States involving property or interests in property of the blocked persons.
Article published on February 26, 2023 in the 1048th edition of the weekly Ríodoce.