Treasury sanctions 23 individuals and entities allegedly tied to Sinaloa cartel’s global network

A new wave of sanctions from the U.S. Treasury targets 23 individuals and entities it says are connected to the Sinaloa cartel. Their assets are now blocked in the United States.

The newly sanctioned people and businesses span two continents. They include an India-based chemicals supplier and Guatemala-based import/export businesses, among others.

The Treasury Department claims these nearly two dozen individuals and entities support the vast drug production and smuggling network operated by the Sinaloa cartel.

Last year, the Trump administration designated that group and several other Mexico-based drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations.

The recent sanctions from the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control follow a State Department action to restrict visas for 75 people it identifies as family, friends or associates of members of the Sinaloa cartel.

According to a statement from the Treasury Department, the new sanctions include India-based pharmaceutical chemical supply companies that they say trade in chemical precursors for fentanyl. The sanctions also target two individuals associated with those businesses who were arrested by Indian authorities last year.

In Guatemala, the individuals and businesses targeted by the Treasury are accused of importing and exporting precursor chemicals, including some sourced from the businesses sanctioned in India.

The sanctions also target several Mexico-based individuals accused of being part of the illicit drug supply chain for both factions of the Sinaloa cartel. The two factions of the major drug cartel have engaged in violent fighting in the state of Sinaloa for more than a year and a half.