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Yahoo
a day ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump admin sanctions El Chapo's children, violent fentanyl-trafficking cartel arm Los Chapitos
The Trump administration is sanctioning El Chapo's children and Los Chapitos – a fentanyl trafficking faction of the violent Sinaloa cartel, Fox News Digital has learned. The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned Los Chapitos, which controls laboratories responsible for introducing fentanyl in counterfeit pills manufactured by the Sinaloa cartel and trafficked to the United States. Gunmen linked to the Sinaloa cartel were involved in the Oct. 18, 2024, killing of U.S. Marine veteran Nicholas Quets in Sonora, Mexico. Flashback: Family Of Marine Veteran Murdered In Mexico Backs Trump, Vance After Silence From Biden-harris Admin Additionally, the Treasury Department designated the two sons of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman Loera: Archivaldo Ivan Guzman Salazar and Jesus Alfredo Guzman Salazar. "Los Chapitos is a powerful, hyperviolent faction of the Sinaloa cartel at the forefront of fentanyl trafficking in the United States," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Monday. "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." Read On The Fox News App Trump, Vance Meet With Family Of Marine Veteran Killed Off Mexican Highway By Suspected Cartel Members Bessent added that the Treasury Department is "maximizing all available tools to stop the fentanyl crisis and help save lives." The Treasury Department on Monday also sanctioned a regional network of Los Chapitos associates and businesses based in Mazatlan, Sinaloa, Mexico, that allegedly engages in drug tracking, extortion, kidnapping and money laundering. The Treasury Department coordinated with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration to take the action Monday. Nicholas Douglas Quets, a 31-year-old Marine veteran who worked for Pima County, Arizona, on water reclamation projects, was shot and killed along the Caborca-Altar Highway in northern Mexico on Oct. 18, 2024. Quets' father, Doug, who served 20 years in the U.S. Army and another 20 years in federal law enforcement, expressed his family's "deep and enduring gratitude to President Trump and his entire Cabinet for unwaveringly using every instrument of national power in the pursuit of justice for our beloved Nicholas." "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," Quets said in a 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." Quets added: "This was not just murder – it was a deliberate act of terror against a known American citizen." Quets said the Treasury Department's designation of the Sinaloa cartel as a foreign terrorist organization was a "vital first step in honoring Nicholas' memory and protecting other Americans from suffering similar tragedies." "Secretary Bessent's decisive action to target the Sinaloa cartel's financial networks strikes at the heart of this transnational threat," Quets said. "Disrupting their ability to move money, launder profits and bribe officials is essential to dismantling this criminal empire."Original article source: Trump admin sanctions El Chapo's children, violent fentanyl-trafficking cartel arm Los Chapitos
Yahoo
03-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Father of Marine vet murdered in Mexico praises Trump admin sanctions on Sinaloa cartel: 'Palpable' momentum
The father of a 31-year-old Marine veteran from Arizona who was murdered at an illegal checkpoint while driving to the beach in Mexico in 2024 said he did not expect Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to reference his son's name when announcing new sanctions against the Sinaloa cartel this week. Doug Quets, a U.S. military veteran himself, whose son, Nicholas Quets, served for four years in the Marines, said he was "really humbled and pleasantly surprised" that Bessent remembered him, as well as another American, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent Enrique "Kiki" Camarena. Camarena was abducted, tortured and killed in 1985. Bessent named both men in a video statement released Monday – what would have been Nicholas Quets' 32nd birthday – that announced Treasury Department sanctions against six individuals and seven entities allegedly involved in a money-laundering network supporting the Sinaloa cartel. "I had full faith in President Trump… I knew we weren't forgotten, but when the secretary mentioned my son's name, no, I was not. I was not expecting that," Doug Quets told Fox News Digital. "I have the faith in a lot of different levels of our government and in God that things could be done, because in fact, if you apply, if you pursue these problems and you confront these problems, they're basically bullies, right? And so if you let the bullies go, they become bolder and bolder. But if you confront them, you can defeat them. So the momentum against these groups is palpable right now. I mean, you can feel it, you know that that's occurring. And that's only because of the United States deciding to do something about it." Sinaloa Cartel Slapped With Trump Admin Sanctions In Blow To Drug Empire Quets noted the contrast between the Trump administration's message and what he heard from officials on both sides of the border five and a half months ago. He said his grieving family was told repeatedly by officials in the wake of Nicholas' slaying in the Mexican state of Sonora that "we're sorry, but there's nothing that can be done." Read On The Fox News App "That, to me, is just infuriating because [as] somebody that's spent a lot of time providing security for others and promoting welfare, the knowledge that nothing can be done against bullies and criminals, that perspective is wrong. You just have to confront it," Quets told Fox News Digital. "We can win any fight. And we can win this fight. And knowing that President Trump is taking it very seriously, yeah, that gives me hope, gives my family hope that this will come to a good ending for so many people. It'll never come to good ending for me, the things we want back, you know, they're not coming back, but we can protect your family. We can protect other families." Quets praised Trump for using "all instruments of U.S. national power" against the cartels and described receiving "overwhelming" support from the National Security Council, Justice Department and the FBI. "It's moving, it never moves as fast as you want as a parent, but he has taken our case very seriously, and I'm super happy for that. And everything we discussed, he has moved out on and as fast, I'm convinced, as fast as he could," Quets said. "The United States government's capable of doing anything it wants to do in this world if it makes it important enough. And it's just how important we want to make it," Quets said. "If you pull the right levers and you do the right things and you do them in the name of justice, in the name of security of American citizens, you're always doing the right thing." About three weeks ago, Attorney General Pam Bondi said she had a "powerful and emotional phone call" with Judge Enrique Camarena, the son of murdered DEA Special Agent Camarena, following the extradition of his alleged killer, Rafael Caro Quintero. Quintero was among 29 defendants taken into U.S. custody in February to face prosecution in the United States for cartel-related crimes dating back to the 1980s. Family Of Marine Veteran Murdered In Mexico Backs Trump, Vance After Silence From Biden-harris Admin Quets declined to reveal updates about his son's case amid the active investigation but welcomed those extraditions as a sign of the growing momentum from U.S. agencies in confronting this "evil." "I am pleased. I'm not surprised because I did know it could be done. And I did feel like it would be done under President Trump, but I'm pleased that these extraditions have started," Quets said. Nicholas Quets, who was employed by Pima County, Arizona, in water reclamation and ran his own side business as a welder at the time of his death, was making a drive many Americans had made before down to the Mexican beach town of Rocky Point when he was murdered on Oct. 18, 2024, during the height of the election campaign, after evading an illegal checkpoint in Caborca, according to his father. The family later learned the route had become more treacherous with rival cartels fighting over the area, and two elderly American women were killed at a similar checkpoint about a month beforehand, though that story received little news coverage at the time. Nicholas Quets was pursued by cartel members on an about seven-mile chase before they ran his pick-up truck into a cement median, and the alleged cartel members "shot him in the back as cowards," according to Doug Quets. Just days after his son's murder, Doug Quets said he met with vice presidential candidate and then-Sen. JD Vance, of Ohio, while he was campaigning in Arizona. Trump also met with the grieving father, who praised both Republicans for their humanity in speaking with him for about 15 minutes each while they were in the "fight of their lives" in the swing state. Doug Quets said he was ignored by Democratic vice-presidential candidate and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz' team when he made a campaign stop in the state. Trump later invited the Quets family to a rally in nearby Nevada, and Doug Quets said Trump unexpectedly introduced him to the crowd and invited him on stage to speak. "There was no script, there was nothing else. President Trump just put all his blind faith in me to just tell the truth," Quets said. "Nick was an innocent U.S. citizen driving to the beach and was executed by cowards in the back." "You have to accept the fact that, you know, there is good and there is bad and there is evil in the world. And my son, through no fault of his own, confronted evil. And that evil, you know, is now being held accountable and is going to be made to pay."Original article source: Father of Marine vet murdered in Mexico praises Trump admin sanctions on Sinaloa cartel: 'Palpable' momentum
Fox News
03-04-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Father of Marine vet murdered in Mexico praises Trump admin sanctions on Sinaloa cartel: 'Palpable' momentum
The father of a 31-year-old Marine veteran from Arizona who was murdered at an illegal checkpoint while driving to the beach in Mexico in 2024 said he did not expect Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to reference his son's name when announcing new sanctions against the Sinaloa cartel this week. Doug Quets, a U.S. military veteran himself, whose son, Nicholas Quets, served for four years in the Marines, said he was "really humbled and pleasantly surprised" that Bessent remembered him, as well as another American, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent Enrique "Kiki" Camarena. Camarena was abducted, tortured and killed in 1985. Bessent named both men in a video statement released Monday – what would have been Nicholas Quets' 32nd birthday – that announced Treasury Department sanctions against six individuals and seven entities allegedly involved in a money-laundering network supporting the Sinaloa cartel. "I had full faith in President Trump… I knew we weren't forgotten, but when the secretary mentioned my son's name, no, I was not. I was not expecting that," Doug Quets told Fox News Digital. "I have the faith in a lot of different levels of our government and in God that things could be done, because in fact, if you apply, if you pursue these problems and you confront these problems, they're basically bullies, right? And so if you let the bullies go, they become bolder and bolder. But if you confront them, you can defeat them. So the momentum against these groups is palpable right now. I mean, you can feel it, you know that that's occurring. And that's only because of the United States deciding to do something about it." Quets noted the contrast between the Trump administration's message and what he heard from officials on both sides of the border five and a half months ago. He said his grieving family was told repeatedly by officials in the wake of Nicholas' slaying in the Mexican state of Sonora that "we're sorry, but there's nothing that can be done." "That, to me, is just infuriating because [as] somebody that's spent a lot of time providing security for others and promoting welfare, the knowledge that nothing can be done against bullies and criminals, that perspective is wrong. You just have to confront it," Quets told Fox News Digital. "We can win any fight. And we can win this fight. And knowing that President Trump is taking it very seriously, yeah, that gives me hope, gives my family hope that this will come to a good ending for so many people. It'll never come to good ending for me, the things we want back, you know, they're not coming back, but we can protect your family. We can protect other families." Quets praised Trump for using "all instruments of U.S. national power" against the cartels and described receiving "overwhelming" support from the National Security Council, Justice Department and the FBI. "It's moving, it never moves as fast as you want as a parent, but he has taken our case very seriously, and I'm super happy for that. And everything we discussed, he has moved out on and as fast, I'm convinced, as fast as he could," Quets said. About three weeks ago, Attorney General Pam Bondi said she had a "powerful and emotional phone call" with Judge Enrique Camarena, the son of murdered DEA Special Agent Camarena, following the extradition of his alleged killer, Rafael Caro Quintero. Quintero was among 29 defendants taken into U.S. custody in February to face prosecution in the United States for cartel-related crimes dating back to the 1980s. Quets declined to reveal updates about his son's case amid the active investigation but welcomed those extraditions as a sign of the growing momentum from U.S. agencies in confronting this "evil." "I am pleased. I'm not surprised because I did know it could be done. And I did feel like it would be done under President Trump, but I'm pleased that these extraditions have started," Quets said. Nicholas Quets, who was employed by Pima County, Arizona, in water reclamation and ran his own side business as a welder at the time of his death, was making a drive many Americans had made before down to the Mexican beach town of Rocky Point when he was murdered on Oct. 18, 2024, during the height of the election campaign, after evading an illegal checkpoint in Caborca, according to his father. The family later learned the route had become more treacherous with rival cartels fighting over the area, and two elderly American women were killed at a similar checkpoint about a month beforehand, though that story received little news coverage at the time. Nicholas Quets was pursued by cartel members on an about seven-mile chase before they ran his 1996 Ford F-250 into a cement median, and the alleged cartel members "shot him in the back as cowards," according to Doug Quets. Just days after his son's murder, Doug Quets said he met with vice presidential candidate and then-Sen. JD Vance, of Ohio, while he was campaigning in Arizona. Trump also met with the grieving father, who praised both Republicans for their humanity in speaking with him for about 15 minutes each while they were in the "fight of their lives" in the swing state. Doug Quets said he was ignored by Democratic vice-presidential candidate and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz' team when he made a campaign stop in the state. Trump later invited the Quets family to a rally in nearby Arizona, and Doug Quets said Trump unexpectedly introduced him to the crowd and invited him on stage to speak. "There was no script, there was nothing else. President Trump just put all his blind faith in me to just tell the truth," Quets said. "Nick was an innocent U.S. citizen driving to the beach and was executed by cowards in the back." "You have to accept the fact that, you know, there is good and there is bad and there is evil in the world. And my son, through no fault of his own, confronted evil. And that evil, you know, is now being held accountable and is going to be made to pay."
