US imposes sanctions on El Chapo's fugitive sons, offers $10 mn bounty

The United States on Monday imposed sanctions on the two fugitive sons of incarcerated Mexican Sinaloa Cartel leader Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman and announced a reward offer of up to $10 million each for information leading to the arrest or conviction of the men.

The US Treasury Department announced sanctions on Archivaldo Ivan Guzman Salazar and Jesus Alfredo Guzman Salazar who are believed to be currently located in Mexico.

Guzman's other sons Joaquin Guzman Lopez and Ovidio Guzman Lopez are currently incarcerated in the United States. In May, federal prosecutors announced they would not seek the death penalty for Joaquin Guzman Lopez if he is convicted of multiple charges in Chicago.

Sanctions were also imposed on a faction of the Sinaloa cartel known as the "Chapitos," or little Chapos, which has been identified as a main exporter of fentanyl to the US as well as a regional network of Chapitos associates and businesses based in Mazatlan, Mexico, that allegedly engage in drug trafficking, extortion and money laundering.

According to federal prosecutors, El Chapo smuggled mountains of cocaine and other drugs into the United States over 25 years. He was convicted in 2019 on multiple conspiracy counts and sentenced to life in a US prison.

"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 Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement.

Mexico's foreign relations office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

David Saucedo, a Mexican security analyst, said that offering financial rewards and to protect witnesses has been an important tool employed by the US government in recent years. In some key cases against cartel leaders, up to 20 per cent of the US law enforcement have obtained has been through such payouts, Saucedo said.

"People inside the criminal organisation betray their leaders and turn into informants," Saucedo said. "It's this money, this ambition that authorities in the United States are using to break apart narco-trafficking organisations in Mexico."  It is a strategy that was employed by the Biden administration and now is being used under Trump as authorities attempt to crack down on Mexican cartels.

The Sinaloa Cartel, through various incarnations, is Mexico's oldest criminal group, dating to the 1970s. One of their most lucrative businesses in recent years has been the production of the synthetic opioid fentanyl, blamed for tens of thousands of overdose deaths each year in the US. The Trump administration in February labelled the Sinaloa cartel a foreign terrorist organisations.