In an attempt to weaken the prominent Mexican Sinaloa cartel, the U.S. Treasury Department on Tuesday sanctioned an associate of the cartel’s head and four other individuals under the Kingpin Act.
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control designated Victor Manuel Felix Felix, who is a close associate of Sinaloa chief Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman Lorea. The designation freezes his and the others U.S. assets and prohibits people in the United States from doing business with them.
Felix Felix “plays a key role” in Sinaloa, which along with the Zetas, is the most powerful cartel in Mexico, the Treasury said. The four others are also heavily involved in the cartel’s dealings.
Specifically, Felix Felix is the leader of the Sinaloa’s narcotics distribution and money laundering operation based in Mexico City and Guadalajara. He is also the father-in-law of Guzman’s son, Jesus Alfredo Guzman.
“By exposing additional family members and other affiliates of the Sinaloa cartel, this action builds on the Treasury Department’s consistent efforts to disrupt Chapo Guzman’s drug- trafficking activities,” Adam Szubin, who heads the Treasury’s foreign asset control agency, said in a statement.
Guzman was ranked by Forbes magazine as one of the most powerful people in the world and is listed by the publication as the 10th richest person in Mexico, with around $1 billion in assets.
The United States has offered a $5 million reward for information leading to his arrest. Mexico has offered a $2.3 million reward.
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