The U.S. Department of Justice announced a series of indictments targeting key leaders of the Chapitos faction of the Sinaloa Cartel. The indictments include three of the cartel’s Chinese fentanyl suppliers.
During a news conference, top leaders within the U.S. justice apparatus announced multiple indictments focusing on the Chapitos and key leaders within their network who they claim are the main drivers behind the ongoing fentanyl crisis.
“We are going after the entire network,” said U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland. The attorney general added that the indictments name distributors, drug suppliers, enforcers, and the individuals who provide the cartel their weapons.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the Sinaloa Cartel is one of the most powerful cartels in the world and is the main supplier of fentanyl in Mexico. Enforcement priorities for fentanyl surged due to the high number of overdoses tied to it. The drug is 50 times more potent than heroin. The DOJ claimed that fentanyl caused an opioid-related drug-overdose crisis where that drug is now the leading cause of death for Americans ages 18 to 49.
“Between 2019 and 2021, fatal overdoses increased by approximately 94 [percent] with an estimated 196 Americans dying each day from fentanyl” a statement from the DOJ revealed.
While various leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel have been indicted in the past — primarily on drug charges focusing on marijuana and cocaine — the new charges focus on fentanyl and target the leaders of the Chapitos faction. That group is reportedly led by Ivan Guzman Salazar, 40, Alfredo Guzman Salazar, 37, Joaquin Guzman Lopez, 36, and Ovidio Guzman Lopez, 33, all four are sons of imprisoned Sinaloa Cartel leader Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, the former leader of the Sinaloa Cartel.
The Chapitos took over their father’s business after his arrest in 2016 and extradition in 2017. After assuming control, they moved against the leader of another faction of the Sinaloa Cartel named Damaso “El Licenciado” Lopez. After taking over his group, Chapitos became the dominant group within the Sinaloa Cartel.
The individuals in the indictment include Kun Jiang, Yaquin Wu, and Huatao Yao, three Chinese drug suppliers that U.S. authorities have charged in the case.
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com.
Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.
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