The U.S. Department of the Treasury announced on Monday that its Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) had sanctioned eight Mexicans and 12 Mexico-based companies that are allegedly affiliated with the Los Chapitos faction of the Sinaloa Cartel.
“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 Treasury Department said in a statement.
The sanctioned individuals are six men and two women, four of whom are siblings.
The 12 sanctioned companies include chemical, laboratory equipment, agriculture-related, cleaning and real estate firms.
The eight individuals and 12 companies were “designated” by OFAC pursuant to Executive Order 14059 (an anti-narcotics order) and Executive Order 13224 (a counter-terrorism order).
The measures OFAC imposed on Monday freeze all assets in the U.S. affiliated with the sanctioned individuals and companies, and block U.S. transactions with them.
The Treasury Department said that Los Chapitos is a Sinaloa Cartel faction “run by the four sons of Joaquin ‘El Chapo’ Guzman Loera,” a former Sinaloa Cartel leader who was convicted on drug trafficking charges in the United States in 2019 and is now imprisoned in Colorado.
“With two of the four members of Los Chapitos now in U.S. federal custody, fugitive brothers Archivaldo Ivan and Jesus Alfredo Guzmán Salazar lead the faction and exert control over vast swaths of Sinaloa Cartel-controlled territories across Mexico,” the Treasury Department said.
It said that Los Chapitos are “heavily invested in the trafficking of illicit fentanyl and methamphetamine,” and “have consistently procured precursor chemicals, overseen illicit laboratories, and managed drug distribution.”
In the same statement, the Treasury Department’s under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence said that “over 500,000 Americans have died of fentanyl poisoning.”
John K. Hurley also said that “President Trump has made clear that stopping the deadly flow of drugs into our country is a top national security priority.”
An alleged family-run criminal scheme
One of the companies sanctioned by OFAC on Monday is Sumilab, a Culiacán-based chemical and laboratory equipment firm that was founded in 2001, according to the Treasury Department.
The company was “first sanctioned by OFAC pursuant to counternarcotics authorities” in 2023 and designated on Monday “for its involvement in providing and shipping precursor chemicals for and to Sinaloa Cartel members and associates,” Treasury said.
Treasury said that Sumilab is run by the Favela López family, including four siblings and two men who married into the family. Those six people, all of whom were sanctioned on Monday, are:
- Víctor Andrés Favela López
- Francisco Favela López
- Jorge Luis Favela López
- María Gabriela Favela López
- Jairo Verdugo Araujo (María Gabriela’s spouse)
- Gilberto Gallardo Garcia (married to another Favela López sibling, according to Treasury)
The other two people sanctioned by OFAC on Monday are:
- César Elías López Araujo, who Treasury said is a “front person” for Víctor Andrés Favela López.
- Martha Emilia Conde Uraga, who Treasury said is “a longtime Sinaloa Cartel-affiliated chemical broker operating out of multiple warehouses in and around Culiacán.”
Treasury said that after Sumilab was sanctioned in 2023, “the Favela López family removed signage from Sumilab storefronts and changed tactics, but remained heavily engaged in supplying precursor chemicals for the Sinaloa Cartel’s fentanyl production.”
It said that the three Favela López brothers “operate under the Los Chapitos faction of the Sinaloa Cartel and are responsible for supplying and distributing precursor chemicals and lab equipment to Sinaloa Cartel-affiliated chemical brokers and lab operators, who produce illicit fentanyl and methamphetamine.”
“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,” Treasury said.
The department headed up by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that the Favela López family “operates a network of chemical, laboratory equipment and agriculture-related companies” in addition to Sumilab, seven of which were sanctioned on Monday.
Those seven companies were sanctioned due to their links to the Favela López family.
The alleged ‘chemical broker’
The other four companies sanctioned by OFAC on Monday are run by Conde Uraga and her family, according to Treasury. Two are industrial cleaning companies, one is a mental health services provider and one is a real estate firm.
Treasury said that Conde Uraga is “also a utilizer of front persons,” but didn’t name any of them.
It said that the 63-year-old Culiacán native “supplies precursor chemicals to drug traffickers and lab operators working for the Los Chapitos faction of the Sinaloa Cartel.”
Treasury said that Conde Uraga uses “fraudulent invoicing and other concealment methods” to supply precursor chemicals, some of which are shipped illegally to Mexico from China, according to Mexican and U.S. authorities.
The United States’ ‘armed conflict’ against cartels
The Sinaloa Cartel is one of 10 Western Hemisphere criminal groups that the United States government designated as foreign terrorist organizations this year. Including the Sinaloa Cartel, six of them are based in Mexico.
According to a U.S. government memo obtained by The Associated Press last week, U.S. President Donald Trump has declared drug cartels to be unlawful combatants and says the United States is now in an “armed conflict” with them.
The U.S. military has recently carried out deadly strikes against boats the U.S. government said were transporting drugs and were linked to the Venezuelan crime group Tren de Aragua, one of the groups designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S.
President Claudia Sheimbaum has ruled out the possibility that the United States military could target Mexican cartels on Mexican soil.
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