By Chase Smith
The U.S. Treasury Department on June 9 sanctioned two sons of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán and several members of their network, accusing the group of trafficking fentanyl, laundering money, and fueling violence through the Sinaloa Cartel’s Los Chapitos faction.
The sanctions, announced by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), target Archivaldo Iván Guzmán Salazar and Jesús Alfredo Guzmán Salazar, according to a June 9 Treasury Department statement. Both men remain fugitives and are described by U.S. officials as senior leaders of the cartel’s Los Chapitos wing, which is alleged to be responsible for manufacturing and distributing large volumes of fentanyl throughout the United States.
“Los Chapitos is a powerful, hyperviolent faction of the Sinaloa Cartel at the forefront of fentanyl trafficking into the United States,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in the statement.
“At the Department of the Treasury, we are executing on President Trump’s mandate to completely eliminate drug cartels and take on violent leaders like ‘El Chapo’s’ children. Treasury is maximizing all available tools to stop the fentanyl crisis and help save lives.”
The sanctions follow the October 2024 killing of Nicholas Quets, a former U.S. Marine shot in Sonora, Mexico, by gunmen linked to the Sinaloa Cartel. According to the Treasury Department, the attackers were part of a heavily armed cell that pursued Quets and shot him in the back after confirming that he was a U.S. citizen.
In a public statement, Doug Quets, the victim’s father, said the attack was “a deliberate act of terror” and praised the administration’s response.
“Nicholas Quets was an innocent American and proud U.S. Marine veteran whose bright future was stolen on October 18, 2024, when he was ambushed just south of the U.S. border by a heavily armed cell of the Sinaloa Cartel,” he said in the statement.
“Cowards in cartel insignia—more than two dozen strong—pursued Nicholas and fatally shot him in the back, through the heart, during a failed carjacking, only after confirming his status as an American. This was not just murder—it was a deliberate act of terror against a known American citizen.”
Doug Quets added that U.S. State Department’s designating the Sinaloa Cartel as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) earlier this year was “a vital first step in honoring Nicholas’ memory and protecting other Americans from suffering similar tragedies.”
“It sends a clear message: Those who target U.S. citizens—no matter where they are—will face the full force of American resolve,” he said. “Secretary Bessent’s decisive action to target the Sinaloa Cartel’s financial networks strikes at the heart of this transnational threat. Disrupting their ability to move money, launder profits, and bribe officials is essential to dismantling this criminal empire.”
In addition to the Guzmán brothers, OFAC targeted a regional network operating in Mazatlán, in Mexico’s Sinaloa state. Víctor Manuel Barraza Pablos, known as “El Victor,” was identified as a local plaza boss. The Treasury Department also designated José Raúl Núñez Ríos, who allegedly helps finance the cartel’s activities through construction, retail, and hospitality businesses, often fronted by his wife, Sheila Paola Urías Vázquez, according to its June 9 statement.
Ten businesses linked to the network were sanctioned, including construction firms, a beachfront hotel, and a clothing store. The action freezes any U.S.-based assets and prohibits Americans from doing business with the individuals or entities involved.
OFAC said the Mazatlán-based network engages in trafficking, extortion, kidnapping, and laundering drug proceeds, supporting a wider Sinaloa Cartel infrastructure that stretches across northwestern Mexico. The cartel’s operations reportedly span Mexico’s Sinaloa, Sonora, and Baja California states, focusing on smuggling corridors into the United States.
The designation follows the cartel’s classification as an FTO on Feb. 20, which allowed the federal government to apply additional counterterrorism tools against cartel members and their financial enablers.
The June 9 action marks the ninth round of OFAC sanctions targeting transnational criminal organizations since January.
Treasury officials said the department will continue using financial measures alongside law enforcement and diplomatic tools to pressure cartels and disrupt their operations.
