U.S. to Sanction Three Fentanyl Traffickers Contributing to the U.S. Opioid Crisis

The United States is determined to confront illicit fentanyl traffickers, including by exposing them and preventing them from accessing and exploiting the international financial system. Today, we are designating Mexican-based drug trafficker Jose Angel Rivera Zazueta and his two associates.  These individuals used precursor chemicals to manufacture and smuggle fentanyl and other illicit synthetic drugs into the United States.

Illicit synthetic drugs pose a grave threat to the health and security of the people of the United States and other countries.  Foreign-sourced illicit synthetic opioids, such as fentanyl, remain the deadliest drug threat to the American people.  The CDC estimates that more than 100,000 Americans died of a drug overdose in 2021, with two-thirds of fatal overdoses involving synthetic opioids.

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