Trump Admin Cracks Down on El Chapo’s Sons and Sinaloa Cartel Fentanyl Empire

In a decisive move to combat America’s deadly fentanyl crisis, the Trump administration on Monday hit the Sinaloa Cartel and two of “El Chapo” Guzman’s sons with tough new sanctions. These latest actions target the leaders of the cartel’s Los Chapitos faction Archivaldo Ivan Guzman Salazar and Jesus Alfredo Guzman Salazar both of whom are fugitives and among the top fentanyl traffickers in the world.

These men are not just drug dealers. They are hyperviolent terrorists responsible for fueling the fentanyl epidemic that is killing tens of thousands of Americans each year. Their organization, Los Chapitos, oversees a network of illegal fentanyl factories and distribution pipelines directly into the United States.

“At the Department of the Treasury, we are executing on President Trump’s mandate to completely eliminate drug cartels,” said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. “Treasury is maximizing all available tools to stop the fentanyl crisis and help save lives.”

The scale of destruction linked to the Sinaloa Cartel is staggering:

• Fentanyl overdose deaths in the U.S. surpassed 70,000 in 2023, according to the CDC.

• Los Chapitos is a top producer of counterfeit fentanyl pills, pushing millions into U.S. cities each year.

• The cartel has been tied to extortion, torture, kidnapping, and the 2024 murder of U.S. Marine Nicholas Quets in Sonora, Mexico.

In response to that killing, the Trump administration officially designated the Sinaloa Cartel as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) a major step in expanding the legal tools available to dismantle its leadership and operations.

“The designation of the Sinaloa Cartel as an FTO was a vital first step in honoring Nicholas’ memory and protecting other Americans,” said Nicholas Quets’ father, Doug Quets. “Those who target U.S. citizens no matter where they are will face the full force of American resolve.”

The State Department has placed $10 million rewards on each of the Guzman brothers. Meanwhile, two other sons of El Chapo Ovidio Guzman Lopez and Joaquin Guzman Lopez are already in U.S. custody. Ovidio was arrested in 2023 and extradited from Mexico. Both face federal charges for drug trafficking, money laundering, and weapons offenses.

El Chapo himself is serving a life sentence at a federal supermax prison in Colorado, after being convicted on over a dozen charges. Once seen as untouchable, the Sinaloa kingpin and his family empire are now systematically being dismantled by a Trump-led effort that prioritizes law, order, and American lives.

While the Biden administration sat on its hands and watched fentanyl deaths soar, Trump’s team is taking aggressive action to protect Americans and shut down the blood-soaked cartel economy that has devastated so many families.

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