The Sinaloa cartel, formerly headed by imprisoned drug lord El Chapo, is reportedly barring the production and exportation of fentanyl amid rising pressure from U.S. officials.
The announcement came from the Chapitos organization, a Sinaloa offshoot run by Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán’s four sons, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported Monday. The organization’s rhetoric is clear, according to the outlet: “stop or die.”
The new ban seeks to evade heightened pressure from U.S. drug officials, operatives say, according to WSJ. (RELATED: El Chapo’s Son Extradited To The US On Drug Trafficking Charges)
Headline: Mexican Sinaloa Cartel’s Message to Members: Stop Making Fentanyl or Die
Subheading: Crime group yields to intensifying U.S. law-enforcement pressure and is kidnapping or killing producers who defy its ban on trafficking the opioid
^ The Wall Street Journal
— Faith Back Rub (@FaithRubPol) October 16, 2023
One B-level Sinaloa cartel operative said the Chapitos are exiting the fentanyl game to shift the spotlight from the U.S. government onto the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, which is the cartel’s number-one rival as well as another top manufacturer of the illegal opioid, WSJ reported. (RELATED: ‘You’re Welcoming Drug Dealers’: Tearful Mother Who Lost Two Sons To Fentanyl Slams Democrats Over Border Crisis)
“Some stopped producing. Others kept producing, and we are killing them. Others have fled,” the unnamed operative told the outlet.
The midlevel operative previously oversaw approximately 25 fentanyl labs, but he said he is now responsible for “destroying” them.
In turn, the number of cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine exports are expected to rise in the coming months in order for the Chapitos to make up for the loss of cash flow that is poised to come as a result of the recent ban, WSJ reported.
The U.S. government has acknowledged the cartel’s newly rolled-out policy but is leery of its legitimacy, according to the outlet. Officials said there is no sign of a change in overall strategy and also “likened the move to a public relations ploy.”