Three Mexican drug lords punished by US officials after smuggling deadly fentanyl into America
Three Mexican drug lords punished by US officials after smuggling deadly fentanyl into America
- Alfonso Arzate, his brother, Rene Arzate and Rafael Felix were penalized on Wednesday
- The suspects are charged with exploiting lawns in Tijuana and Manzanillo, the Treasury Department said
- The ruling blocks any assets they hold in the United States and prohibits U.S. citizens from doing business with them
Three senior members of the Sinaloa cartel were sanctioned by the US Treasury Department on Wednesday for trafficking drugs, including fentanyl, to America.
The suspects, Alfonso Arzate, his brother, Rene Arzate and Rafael Felix, all operate plazas for the transnational criminal organization co-founded by Joaquín ‘El Chapo’ Guzmán.
The sanctions block all assets the three men have in the United States. In addition, US citizens are prohibited from associating with them.
Arzate’s siblings, who remain fugitives, reportedly direct the cartel’s activities in Tijuana and other neighboring cities and import narcotics, including the powerful synthetic opioid fentanyl, into the United States.
Sinaloa cartel members Alfonso Arzate (left) and his brother Rene Arzate (right) were sanctioned Wednesday by the US Treasury Department for allegedly trafficking drugs, including fentanyl, to the United States
The Arzate brothers are in charge of the Sinaloa Cartel plaza in Tijuana and other cities, according to the U.S. Treasury Department
According to the Treasury Department, Alfonso Arzate and Rene Arzate have also participated in kidnappings and murders for the notorious cartel.
Both men were charged separately in July 2014 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.
Felix, also known as “The Anthrax Monkey,” a nickname he picked up as a hit man for the Los Anthrax, an enforcement unit for the Sinaloa Cartel, took on a senior role within the organization following the 2013 arrest of gang leader Rodrigo ‘Chino Anthrax’ Arechiga.
He was also indicted on drug trafficking charges in July 2014 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California and was arrested by Mexican authorities in November 2014.
However, Felix and other members of the Sinaloa Cartel fled a prison in Culiacán, Sinaloa in 2017 and remain at large.
Rafael Felix was a member of Los Anthrax, a hit squad for the Sinaloa Cartel before rising through the organization’s leadership structure and becoming one of the cartel’s leaders in the Pacific coastal state of Colima
The Sinaloa Cartel’s Colima Square is currently headed by Rafael Felix, who was sanctioned by the US Treasury Department on Wednesday
Since then, Felix has escalated within the leadership of the Sinaloa Cartel, becoming one of the leaders of the organization’s compound in Manzanillo, Colima, the Treasury Department said.
The city’s port is a strategic location for the cartel’s operations, as it receives cocaine from Colombia and the chemical precursors from Asia needed to synthesize fentanyl.
Manzanillo also acts as a hub for narcotics bound for the United States.
The sanctions against the Arzate clan and Felix come less than a month after the Treasury Department sanctioned 10 Mexican nationals, including El Chapo’s brother-in-law, for manufacturing and trafficking fentanyl.
The Drug Enforcement Administration seized more than 46 million counterfeit fentanyl pills by 2023
The suspects, including Noel López, the brother of El Chapo’s second wife Griselda López, are believed to have ties to Los Chapitos, the four sons of the imprisoned drug lord, who control half of the cartel.
Figures from the Drug Enforcement Administration show that by 2023, the agency seized more than 46 million fake fentanyl pills and more than 3,000 pounds of fentanyl powder.
By comparison, the DEA seized more than 58.3 million fentanyl-laced pills and more than 13,000 pounds of fentanyl powder.