“Sol Prendido” for Borderland Beat
The situation occurs in view of the US investigations into fentanyl trafficking.
The U.S. Department of Justice today filed charges against 28 members of the Sinaloa Cartel, including the sons of drug trafficker Joaquín ‘El Chapo’ Guzmán, as part of an extensive investigation into fentanyl trafficking.
Attorney General Merrick Garland announced the charges along with U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Director Anne Milgram and other top federal prosecutors.
The charges were brought against Sinaloa Cartel leaders, as well as alleged chemical suppliers, laboratory supervisors, fentanyl traffickers, security chiefs, financial operators and arms traffickers.
The indictments announced Friday charge Guzman’s three sons, known as ‘Los Chapitos,’ who have earned a reputation as the most violent and aggressive faction of the cartel.
The indictments also charge Chinese and Guatemalan nationals accused of supplying the precursor chemicals needed to manufacture fentanyl. Other defendants in the cases include those accused of running drug manufacturing laboratories and providing security and weapons for the drug trade, prosecutors said.
Nearly 107,000 Americans died from drug overdoses in the United States in 2021.
The leader of the Sinaloa Cartel was convicted in 2019 of running an industrial-scale smuggling operation.
During ‘El Chapo’s trial, prosecutors said evidence gathered since the late 1980s showed he and his criminal cartel made billions of dollars by smuggling tons of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and marijuana into the United States.
Defiant, the Mexican accused the federal judge in his case of making a mockery of the U.S. justice system and claimed he was denied a fair trial.