Joaquín Guzmán López, El Chapo’s Son, Sanctioned by U.S. Treasury over Drug Trafficking

Puerto Vallarta (PVDN) – The United States Department of the Treasury has imposed sanctions on Joaquín Guzmán López, one of the sons of the notorious drug lord Joaquín ‘El Chapo’ Guzmán, for his involvement in the trafficking of fentanyl and other lethal narcotics into the United States.

Known as ‘El Güero’, Guzmán López is the youngest leader of ‘Los Chapitos’, a powerful arm of the Sinaloa Cartel. The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is responsible for implementing the sanctions, effectively prohibiting the 36-year-old drug trafficker from conducting business within the United States.

“This action is part of our efforts to dismantle the key elements of the global fentanyl trade, including its producers, suppliers, and transporters,” said Brian Nelson, the Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence. He added that the Treasury Department would continue to work closely with Mexican authorities and U.S law enforcement agencies to disrupt the operations of ‘Los Chapitos’ and the Sinaloa Cartel.

In addition to Guzmán López, the Treasury Department also imposed sanctions on three other members of the Sinaloa Cartel and two Mexican-based entities involved in a fentanyl trafficking network overseen by ‘Los Chapitos’. These individuals include Mario Estéban Ogazón Sedano, responsible for procuring chemical precursors and supervising clandestine laboratories; Raymundo Pérez Uribe, who managed a network of suppliers producing synthetic opioids; and Saúl Páez López, a cartel member involved in drug shipment.

The sanctioned entities include Sumilab SA de CV, a chemical products distributor based in Culiacán, Sinaloa, and Urbanización, Inmobiliaria y Construcción de Obras SA de CV, a company owned by Ogazón Sedana and also based in Sinaloa.

“Joaquín Guzmán López plays a crucial role in overseeing ‘super labs’ that have often been supplied by a network led by the Sinaloa-based Zamudio Lerma brothers, Ludim and Luis Alfonso, and trafficking illicit drugs to the United States,” OFAC elaborated on Tuesday.

As a consequence of these sanctions, the assets of the penalized individuals and entities located on U.S. soil will be frozen by OFAC. Additionally, any parties conducting transactions with the sanctioned individuals may also face potential penalties.