MEXICO CITY — The U.S. Treasury Department on Wednesday imposed sanctions on individuals linked to Mexico’s powerful Sinaloa drug cartel, days after bilateral security talks aimed at cracking down on the trafficking of fentanyl and other contraband. .
The Treasury Department said Juan Francisco Valenzuela and his family-run drug cartel transported “multi-ton quantities of illicit drugs” to the United States and Sinaloa, a long-running infamous kingpin, Joaquín “El Chapo”.・He said he was accused of operating under the protection of a cartel. Guzman.
The Treasury Department also sanctioned group members Héctor Alfonso Araujo Peralta and Raul Rivas Cheares, as well as three Mexico-based shipping companies for facilitating the activity.
All named individuals are currently fugitives from US federal drug trafficking indictments, it said.
“Valenzuela’s drug lordship fuels the ongoing drug epidemic in the United States that kills tens of thousands of Americans each year,” said Brian E., the Treasury’s undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence. . said Nelson.
“Depleting this network of resources will help deprive the Sinaloa Cartel of the vital support it needs.”
Eliminating the drug trade was high on the agenda of last week’s bilateral security talks between the United States and Mexico attended by Secretary of State Anthony Brinken.
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said this week that he would “go all out against fentanyl”.
The Treasury Department agreed to cooperate with the Mexican government in a statement.
Two Valenzuela brothers were detained in recent years, making Juan Francisco the last brother involved in Valenzuela’s Mexican trafficking operation, the Treasury said.
All Valenzuela property and assets in the United States are currently frozen.
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