U.S. to Sanction Sinaloa Cartel Network of Fentanyl Suppliers Contributing to the U.S. Opioid Crisis

The United States is determined to disrupt the global production and supply chain of illicit fentanyl, including by denying the criminal actors who engage in this activity access to the international financial system. Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control is designating six Sinaloa Cartel members involved in the illicit methamphetamine and fentanyl trade, as well as six Mexico-based entities.  Led by brothers Ludim Zamudio Lerma and Luis Alfonso Zamudio Lerma, this network is responsible for diverting illicit precursor chemicals directly into the hands of Sinaloa Cartel members and their labs.

Drug trafficking drives instability, fuels corruption, and kills young and old. This crisis cuts across every geographic, demographic, and economic category in our nation, damaging our prosperity and imposing tremendous suffering on our communities. The production and trafficking of these drugs is a global problem, and the United States is prepared to lead at a global level.

Today’s action is part of a whole-of-government effort to disrupt and dismantle the transnational criminal organizations that facilitate the illicit supply of fentanyl and other narcotics.