US Treasury cracks down Sinaloa Cartel’s fentanyl trafficking network

The U.S. Treasury Department’s crackdown on the financial networks of Mexican cartels continues. On Monday, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced sanctions against eight individuals and 12 companies accused of being linked to the Sinaloa Cartel’s Los Chapitos faction. “This network supplies illicit fentanyl precursor chemicals to the Sinaloa Cartel, a terrorist organization responsible for a significant portion of the deadly drugs trafficked into the United States,” the agency said in a statement.

The main target of the action is the laboratory supply company Sumilab, based in Culiacán, the capital of the Mexican state of Sinaloa. The Treasury Department, which previously sanctioned the company in 2023, maintains that this business participates in the Sinaloa Cartel’s fentanyl production chain.

The U.S. identified the Favela López family as being behind the Sumilab operation, specifically four siblings (Víctor Andrés, Francisco, Jorge Luis, and Gabriela) and some of their partners (Jairo Verdugo and Gilberto Gallardo). EL PAÍS revealed two years ago that Sumilab’s main client was the government of the state of Sinaloa itself: between 2018 and 2022, the state awarded the company public contracts totaling 14.7 million pesos (nearly $800,000).

“Following OFAC’s May 2023 sanctions targeting Sumilab, the Favela Lopez family removed signage from Sumilab storefronts and changed tactics, but remained heavily engaged in supplying precursor chemicals for the Sinaloa Cartel’s fentanyl production,” the statement said. The agency maintains that Víctor Andrés, Francisco, and Jorge Luis distribute both the precursors and laboratory equipment to the criminal organization. “Additionally, chemicals are sold to companies in the United States, where they are synthesized into illicit drugs and ultimately sold to U.S.-based customers,” the statement added.

The U.S. also outlined a network of seven other companies related to agriculture (Agrolaren, Distribuidora de Productores y Servicios Viand, Favelab, Fagalab, Qui Lab, and Storelab) that work for Sumilab. All of them have also been sanctioned, despite the Favela López family’s efforts to “distance themselves, at least on paper,” from these companies. “In the days and weeks following OFAC’s action, Victor Andres, Francisco, and Jorge Luis each removed themselves and/or other family members from numerous corporate filings — to include Agrolaren, Viand, Favelab, and Fagalab — and installed front persons in their place,” the statement noted.

The Treasury Department even identified some of these front people. According to the U.S., one of them is César Elías López Araujo, who also owns the laboratory equipment company Importaciones y Nacional Marcerlab. Both he and the company were sanctioned on Monday.

In addition to the Favela family, OFAC has sanctioned Martha Conde Uraga, known as Martita, described as “a longtime Sinaloa Cartel-affiliated chemical broker operating out of multiple warehouses in and around Culiacan.” The U.S. claims that she uses fraudulent invoices and other concealment methods to supply chemical precursors to Los Chapitos. Conde Uraga runs four companies with her family: the chemical and industrial cleaning companies Comercial Viosma del Noroeste and Prolimph Químicos en General; a healthcare company, Proveedora de Servicios de Salud Mental del Pacífico; and a real estate company, Roco del Pacífico Inmobiliaria.

With these sanctions, the United States aims to increase pressure on fentanyl trafficking, which has already caused 500,000 deaths in the country, according to John K. Hurley, under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence. “President Trump has made clear that stopping the deadly flow of drugs into our country is a top national security priority. Under Secretary Bessent’s leadership, the Treasury Department is committed to dismantling the complex financial networks that support these terrorist organizations,” said the official.

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