DOJ Unveils Charges Against ‘El Chapo’ Sons, 25 Others In Crackdown On Fentanyl Trade | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's Note: This post appears here courtesy of the The Daily Wire. The author of this post is Tim Pearce.

    The Department of Justice issued indictments Friday against dozens of alleged drug traffickers with ties to Mexico's Sinaloa Cartel, including the three sons of former Sinaloa head Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán Loera.

    The indictments charge 28 people with crimes ranging from drug trafficking to machine gun possession to money laundering. None of the defendants are located in the United States; 23 are based in Mexico, four are based in China, and one is based in Guatemala.

    "Today, the Justice Department is announcing significant enforcement actions against the largest, most violent, and most prolific fentanyl trafficking operation in the world - run by the Sinaloa Cartel, and fueled by Chinese precursor chemical and pharmaceutical companies," said Attorney General Merrick Garland in a statement. "Families and communities across our country are being devastated by the fentanyl epidemic. Today's actions demonstrate the comprehensive approach the Justice Department is taking to disrupt fentanyl trafficking and save American lives."

    The Guzman sons are high-up leaders in the Sinaloa organization, arguably the most powerful drug cartel in Mexico. One of the men, Ovidio Guzmán, also known as "el raton," was arrested by Mexican authorities in January during an assault on a Sinaloa stronghold. Twenty-nine people died in the operation.

    The Department of Treasury announced sanctions targeting fentanyl trafficking as well on Friday. The department slapped sanctions on two Chinese entities and five people based in China and Guatemala with sanctions in a crackdown on fentanyl precursor manufacturing and selling.

    "Illicit fentanyl is responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of Americans each year," Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson said in a statement. "Treasury, as part of the whole-of-government effort to respond to this crisis, will continue to vigorously apply our tools to prevent the transfer of precursor chemicals and machinery necessary to produce this drug."

    In fiscal year 2022, Customs and Border Protection confiscated over 50,000 pounds of fentanyl from attempted drug traffickers and others. Drug smuggling over the border is spiking amid an unprecedented wave of illegal immigration that has continued to escalate over the past two years.

    Most of the fentanyl made in Mexico is manufactured from precursor chemicals shipped in from China. Chinese drug makers sell the precursors to cartels and drug labs in Mexico. The chemicals are then made into fentanyl and typically crafted into pills that resemble other, legal drugs, such as OxyContin.

    The Biden administration's crackdown on the drug trade over the U.S. southern border comes as Republicans have been calling for stiffer resistance to cartels operating south of the U.S. border. Some lawmakers have suggested the cartels be declared terrorist organizations and said they warrant a response from the U.S. military.