The US Department of Justice is set to announce charges against more than 24 Mexican drug cartel leaders and members in a move to target the Sinaloa and Jalisco New Generation Cartel groups, according to senior law enforcement officials. The announcement, expected on Friday morning, follows the arrest of Sinaloa Cartel members earlier this year, including Ovidio Guzman, the son of the cartel’s former drug lord, Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, Jorge Ivan Gastelum Avila, and Jose “N.”
While several suspects are in custody, most are still wanted. It is unclear if charges will be announced against the three sons of El Chapo Guzman, Ovidio, Ivan, and Alfredo, who allegedly help lead the Sinaloa Cartel. Despite the conviction of El Chapo, the Sinaloa Cartel “remains the most powerful” drug trafficking organization in Mexico, according to experts.
The DEA has warned that the Sinaloa and Jalisco New Generation Cartel groups, and their affiliates, control the vast majority of the fentanyl global supply chain, from manufacture to distribution. DEA Administrator Anne Milgram recently told Congress that the cartels are buying precursor chemicals from China, transporting them to Mexico, using them to mass-produce fentanyl, pressing the fentanyl into fake prescription pills, and transporting the drugs from Mexico into the United States for distribution.
This comes as the Biden administration announced increased cooperation with Mexico to combat the trafficking of fentanyl and to crack down on the trafficking of guns going south into Mexico. Most of the fentanyl sold in the US is produced in Mexico using precursors imported from China, according to US officials and international experts. As part of their efforts to combat the fentanyl crisis, the two countries were negotiating an agreement.
The Sinaloa cartel has diversified its criminal activity, including extortion, kidnapping, theft of petroleum from Mexico’s pipelines, and a lucrative drug trade that has expanded to include synthetic opioids. The cartel’s ongoing success can be attributed to its strong leadership, which has prospered under a more “horizontal structure,” according to Mike Vigil, the former chief of international operations for the DEA. Vigil said the Sinaloa Cartel's main rival, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), has grown in Guzmán’s absence but still faces internal power struggles and a crackdown from law enforcement after several high-profile episodes of violence.
In 2020, the Justice Department announced more than 750 arrests after a six-month investigation targeting the CJNG as part of “Project Python.” Officials said the organization was responsible for trafficking tons of cocaine, methamphetamine, and fentanyl-laced heroin into the United States. The CJNG is the most well-armed cartel in Mexico and is responsible for grisly acts of violence and loss of life, according to Assistant Attorney General Brian Benczowski.
The Biden administration's efforts to combat drug trafficking and gun violence across the border come as relations between the US and Mexico have deteriorated, with Mexico's President Andrés Manuel López Obrador falsely stating that none of the dangerous fentanyl is produced in Mexico. Nonetheless, both countries have a shared interest in curbing the violence and destruction caused by drug cartels, and increased cooperation may be necessary to address this ongoing crisis.
inputs from//cnbc
