Treasury sanctions "El Chapo's" sons and Los Chapitos network that finances fentanyl trafficking in the US
"We are executing on President Trump’s mandate to completely eliminate drug cartels and take on violent leaders," the department stated.
Treasury Dept.
The US Treasury Department imposed new sanctions Monday against Los Chapitos, the brutal faction of the Sinaloa Cartel led by the sons of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, accused of spearheading the production and distribution of fentanyl that is devastating US communities. The move also directly hits his financial structure in Mazatlan, Mexico, as part of a broader strategy to stem the flow of synthetic drugs and contain transnational criminal violence.
Through the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), the Treasury designated Iván Archivaldo and Jesús Alfredo Guzmán Salazar as drug kingpins who have flooded the streets of the United States with fentanyl. Both are fugitives from justice, with rewards of up to $10 million offered by the State Department to anyone who provides information leading to their capture.
"At the Department of the Treasury, we are executing on President Trump’s mandate to completely eliminate drug cartels and take on violent leaders like ‘El Chapo’s’ children. Treasury is maximizing all available tools to stop the fentanyl crisis and help save lives," said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
Striking a blow to drug traffickers' financial apparatus
As part of the same operation, the government sanctioned ten Mexican companies used to launder drug money. All are linked to José Raúl Núñez Ríos, known as "El Lic," a businessman who has served as a financial operator for Los Chapitos, and his wife, Sheila Paola Urías Vázquez, a 31-year-old makeup artist who is listed as the nominal owner of several entities linked to her husband's criminal network.
According to the Treasury, Núñez Ríos has financed Los Chapitos' war against rival organizations by hiding illicit profits through investments in construction companies, tourism businesses, spas, and beach clubs. The sanctioned companies include:
- Beach y Marina, S.A. de C.V.
- Carpe Diem Spa
- Club Playa Real, S.A. de C.V.
- Comercializadora Copad, S.A. de C.V.
- Eco Campestres Ultra, S.A.P.I. de C.V.
- IMB 24 Siete, S.A. de C.V.
- MKT 24 Siete, S.A. de C.V.
- MUE rent and sale of dresses
- Proyecta Interna, S.A. de C.V.
- Sea Wa Beach Club, S.A. de C.V.
These companies would have been used to launder millions of dollars from drug trafficking, according to official documents.
The local operator and the escalation of violence
Although these three individuals had already been named in anonymous flyers circulated in several municipalities in Sinaloa in September 2024, this is the first time they have faced formal sanctions from the United States. Those flyers also alluded to characters such as influencer Markitos Toys and Sinaloa Governor Rubén Rocha Moya, although none of them have been subject to sanctions so far.
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