Two Mexicans on the US 'blacklist' for fentanyl trafficking: Who are they?

Nelton Santiso Águila and José Ángel Rivera Zazueta are accused of trafficking fentanyl by US authorities.

Two Mexicans on the US ‘blacklist’ for fentanyl trafficking: Who are they?

Post category:news
Post published:February 1, 2023

In their fight against fentanyl, authorities in the United States froze the properties of two Mexicans who are allegedly engaged in synthetic drug trafficking.

The United States sanctioned José Ángel Rivera Zazueta , the Mexican leader of a drug trafficking organization based in Culiacán, Sinaloa and Mexico City, and two of his associates, his compatriot Nelton Santiso Aguila and the Guatemalan Jason Antonio Yang López , for fentanyl trafficking .

The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) took action against all three for involvement in activities or transactions that have materially contributed to the international proliferation of illicit drugs or their means of production, or that pose a significant risk of contribute to that.

The Rivera Zazueta network, according to the Treasury statement, operates on a global scale , with nodes in the United States, Mexico, South and Central America, Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia.

The United States claims that it imports chemicals from China into Mexico that are later used to make synthetic drugs , including fentanyl, MDMA, crystal methamphetamine , 2C-B, and ketamine.

Rivera Zazueta is also believed to be responsible for moving large amounts of cocaine from Colombia to the United States, Spain, Italy, Guatemala, Mexico and other countries in Europe and Central America.

Today’s sanctions, according to the note, are the result of the “continuous efforts of US agencies to curb the importation and distribution of illicit fentanyl in the United States,” and was coordinated “closely” with the Mexican Executive.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken stressed that the country is determined to confront fentanyl drug traffickers, “including by exposing them and preventing them from accessing and using the international financial system .”

Under the measures of this Monday, January 30, the properties in the United States of those sanctioned are blocked and their transactions and businesses are prohibited .

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that more than 100,000 Americans died from overdoses in 2021 and that two-thirds of those fatal overdoses involved synthetic opioids .