Latest news with #Sinaloa
ABC News
2 days ago
- ABC News
Mexico's brutal Sinaloa cartel is at war with itself as El Chapo's son strikes a deal with the US
For more than a year, Mexican authorities said there was no reason to think criminal cartels were linked to the shooting deaths of Australian surfers Jake and Callum Robinson. Expert observers had immediate doubts. The brothers were shot in the head, and their car and campsite were torched, in an area rife with cartel violence. But the cartel link wasn't clear until a court document revealed a local prison boss had later raised concerns about two inmates. They were then moved to a higher security jail because of "their affiliation with criminal groups linked to the Sinaloa cartel". Some parts of the document were redacted, but the ABC this week confirmed those inmates were Jesús Gerardo and Irineo Francisco — two of the four people accused of the Robinson brothers' murders. (Their surnames are withheld.) As these details were coming to light, the Sinaloa cartel was coming under new scrutiny in the US. The youngest son of "El Chapo", the Mexican crime lord who once led the cartel, has just made a deal with American prosecutors, almost two years after being extradited to Chicago. Ovidio Guzmán López, or "El Ratón", had inherited control of parts of the cartel when his father was jailed for life in the US in 2019. With his three older brothers, he led "Los Chapitos" — described as a "powerful, hyperviolent faction of the Sinaloa cartel at the forefront of fentanyl trafficking" by the US government. Under the plea deal, El Ratón admitted to drug-trafficking and other crimes, and forfeited up to $US80 million in assets. He also agreed to spill the secrets of the Sinaloa cartel — and likely the corrupt officials protecting it — to help US law enforcement bring it down. The earliest iteration of the Sinaloa cartel sprung up in the 1960s in the north-western Mexican state of Sinaloa. It is now considered the dominant cartel along much of the west coast. The US government says it makes billions by flooding American streets with fentanyl and other drugs. And it is increasingly targeting Australia's lucrative methamphetamine and cocaine markets with the help of outlaw motorcycle gangs, authorities believe. But it is also "heavily diversified" beyond drug-trafficking, says Nathan Jones, an expert on Mexico's cartels from Sam Houston State University in Texas. "One of the big umbrella crimes is extortion — extorting local businesses, taking over local markets," he says. "The avocado industry, the seafood industry, illegal water sales in drought-stricken northern regions … they're touching everything." Corruption in government and law enforcement has helped the cartel spread its reach. But in recent years, its status as Mexico's biggest and most powerful has been challenged by the rise of a rival known as the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, or just Jalisco. "There's been this debate for the last 10 years over who is bigger, the Cartel de Jalisco or the Sinaloa cartel," Dr Jones says. "At this point it's pretty clear — we're going to say it's the Cartel de Jalisco." One big reason for that is a bloody factional war that's been tearing the Sinaloa cartel apart. For a long time, El Chapo — real name Joaquín Guzmán — led the Sinaloa cartel alongside Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada. When El Chapo was arrested in 2016, it left his four sons to share control of the cartel with El Mayo. But El Chapo's sons turned on El Mayo. A year ago, Joaquín Guzmán López — the son known as "El Güero Moreno" — delivered El Mayo straight into the hands of American law enforcement. Both El Mayo and El Güero Moreno were arrested on a tarmac in Texas after flying in on a private jet. It is still not totally clear how El Mayo ended up on the plane. Early reports suggested he was duped into thinking he was going to see real estate in northern Mexico. But through his lawyer, El Mayo has said he was ambushed by six men in military uniforms, who tied him up, took him to a landing strip and forced him onto the plane. It means two of El Chapo's sons are in US custody, as well as El Mayo. And the sons' betrayal of El Mayo unleashed an all-out war between the Sinaloa cartel's two big factions — the sons' Los Chapitos faction and the El Mayo faction. "That is turning into a bloody dispute that has surged violence in [the state of] Sinaloa for the last year," Dr Jones says. Parts of Sinaloa, including the capital, Culiacan, are said to be like war zones. An NPR report this month said more than 1,000 people had been killed, and another 1,000 were missing, amid "nearly daily gun battles" on city streets. There is now evidence the Los Chapitos faction is forming an alliance with the rival Jalisco cartel, Dr Jones says. "The Chapitos, as best we can tell, have formed an alliance with [Jalisco] to kind of counterbalance against the El Mayo faction," he says. "So it means it's very hard now to talk about the Sinaloa cartel as a coherent entity." Mexico's cartels do not often target tourists, because it can put them in the glare of unwanted international attention. An attack on an American traveller last October, almost six months after the Robinson brothers were killed, is a case in point. Veteran US Marine Nicholas Quets, 31, was killed by Sinaloa cartel members near the town of Caborca. It is in the state of Sonora, east of Baja California, where the Australian surfers were killed. Like the Robinson brothers, Quets was travelling in a pick-up truck. The US Department of Homeland Security says he "encountered a Sinaloa cartel checkpoint" while on his way to the beach resort city of Puerto Peñasco. "These cartel members attempted to steal his pick-up truck before shooting him in the back through his heart," a Homeland Security statement said. On March 31, the US government used what would have been Quets's 32nd birthday to announce new sanctions on groups suspected of money laundering for the Sinaloa cartel. The sanctions are among a string of measures taken by the Trump administration to ratchet up pressure on Mexico's cartels, and on the Mexican government to crack down on them. The US has also listed the Sinaloa and Jalisco cartels as Foreign Terrorist Organisations, and last month announced $US10 million rewards for the capture of El Chapo's two fugitive sons. His other two sons remain in US custody. The plea deal taken by the youngest, El Ratón, could help him avoid an otherwise-likely life sentence. And his brother, El Güero Moreno, has also reportedly been negotiating a similar deal since flying into the US with El Mayo. The US sees the capture and capitulation of the brothers as a big win in its war on the cartels. "So much blood and violence lay with the Guzmán family," Homeland Security special agent Ray Rede said. "No more." It is not clear exactly how the Sinaloa cartel is allegedly connected to the men accused of murdering the Robinson brothers last year. A translation of the court document that revealed the link says: "Their continued presence at the local penitentiary centre poses a threat to its safety and governance, as they have been identified as involved in smuggling substances on behalf of the Paisas gang". It also says they "belong to a criminal group affiliated with the Sinaloa cartel". The court process for Jesús Gerardo and Irineo Francisco, and two co-accused, has only just begun. It is set to resume at another hearing on Friday.
Scottish Sun
3 days ago
- Scottish Sun
Trainee firefighter, 32, faces the sack after ‘unnerving' boasts about his astonishing former life outside the UK
Greater Manchester Fire Service said they 'moved quickly to investigate' BURNING WORRY Trainee firefighter, 32, faces the sack after 'unnerving' boasts about his astonishing former life outside the UK Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) A TRAINEE firefighter has been sacked for boasting he was a former drug cartel hitman. Ali Gonzalez, 32, was six weeks into his basic training course when he was suspended this week. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 1 Ali Gonzalez was suspended from the fire service amid claims he was a hitman in Mexico Credit: His colleagues in Bury, Manchester, turned web sleuths to find Gonzalez had previously given interviews about his life as a sicario — or hitman. He claimed he worked in Mexico for the feared Sinaloa cartel, featured in Netflix dramas Narcos: Mexico and El Chapo. His boasts included killing dozens of rivals and seeing one gangster beheaded in a jail fight. A source said he had dropped hints to trainees about his past. 'It was unnerving,' they added. Greater Manchester Fire Service said: 'We moved quickly to investigate. Public safety is our top priority.' Gonzalez declined to comment.
Time of India
4 days ago
- Politics
- Time of India
Fentanyl terror: There's a Khalistan-China connection
While it's a known fact that Khalistan is a geopolitical project of Pakistan which has been arming and harbouring Khalistani terrorists for decades in India and other countries such as Canada, Australia, the UK and the US, a China link is also emerging in this plot to break India. That link is Fentanyl, an opioid drug which has become a major cause of death in the US. Right after his swearing-in in February, US President Donald Trump had declared eight Latin American drug cartels as terrorist organisations, which included the Sinaloa cartel . The terror designation enables possible US military action in the region against these cartels. Trump also imposed tariffs on China and Canada for smuggling of fentanyl into the US. In recent years, the nexus between Khalistanis and Latin-American drug cartels, especially in Canada and the US, has strengthened, but now China is also getting into the picture. A recent arrest by the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) in Arizona has revealed a Chinese-Khalistani connection. The China link of Opinder Singh Sian aka Thanos The DEA has busted an ISI-China-Canada drug cartel and arrested a notorious Indo-Canadian gangster, Opinder Singh Sian aka Thanos, running a global fentanyl and methamphetamine trafficking ring from British Columbia in Canada, TOI has reported. According to court documents reviewed by TOI, Sian was arrested in Arizona on June 27 after his role in smuggling methamphetamine to Australia and chemicals for fentanyl into the US via Canada was established. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like The Most Beautiful Female Athletes Right Now Undo The investigation, which kicked off in 2022, and a recently unsealed affidavit in a US court, have revealed that Sian had operational ties with chemical suppliers linked to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) besides the Sinaloa cartel in Mexico. The DEA had mounted an undercover operation to trap Sian after his dubious ties came to fore in 2021-2022 in the aftermath of a preliminary inquiry conducted regarding a tip from a Turkish intelligence agency. Singh was at the time a known senior member of the notorious ISI-backed 'Brothers Keepers' gang which mostly has foot soldiers from Punjab in India, many of whom are Canadian citizens. The gang, which has lent its support to the cause of Khalistan on many occasions, was also seen active in commemoration rallies in support of Air India bombing mastermind Talwinder Singh Parmar of Babbar Khalsa International and others, sources told TOI. According to Canadian police, the group deals in bulk trafficking of cocaine, MDMA, heroin, fentanyl and methamphetamine besides arms trafficking, murder, extortion and armed robbery. Sian had arranged for a meeting between a confidential US undercover source, known as "Queen", and a Chinese cartel man named Peter Peng Zhou in Vancouver in 2023. Zhou, ran a trucking company with an Indo-Canadian associate, revealed that he could "receive fentanyl precursor chemicals from China into Vancouver and "send 100 kilos of chemicals per month to Los Angeles" using his trucking company. Sian and Queen, the DEA said, held multiple meetings and were in contact through chat application Threema to coordinate multiple deliveries. Specifically, Sian made four drops of methamphetamine (over 500 pounds) in southern California before the DEA moved for his arrest. Live Events Agencies Opinder Singh Sian aka Thanos The emerging China-Khalistan links While there is no substantial known cooperation between China and Khalistani terrorists, many reports have revealed that China has been trying to promote Khalistan separatism in recent years. During the India-China military standoff in Ladakh in 2020, the Sikhs For Justice, a US-based separatist Sikh body designated as a terror group by India, approached Beijing to support its secessionist campaign. SFJ's Gurpatwant Singh Pannun shot off a letter to Chinese President Xi Jinping , justifying China's position against India and extending support of pro-Khalistani Sikhs. "We consider China's counter military action against India as legitimate and justified to protect its territorial integrity under international laws," Pannun wrote to Xi. He also urged the Chinese president to take up before the UN Security Council the issue of Sikh right to "self determination and secession" of Punjab from India through referendum. In the letter, Pannun also said that a delegation of SFJ's referendum campaigners would visit Beijing. A few months before, in 2019, an intelligence report prepared by security agencies, said that Pannun had also written a letter to Yao Jing, then ambassador of China to Pakistan, informing him about alleged role of an Indian intelligence agency in attack on Chinese consulate in Karachi, Pakistan, in 2018, TOI had reported. Last year, Pannu said in a video, addressing Chinese President Xi, that 'now is the time to order the Chinese army to take Arunachal Pradesh back' while claiming that 'Arunachal Pradesh is the territory of China'. Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, had revealed last year that a network in China targeted the Sikh community worldwide with fictitious posts and manipulated images about the 'Khalistan independence movement'. 'These groups appeared to have created a fictitious activist movement called 'Operation K', which called for pro-Sikh protests," Meta said in its report. India had snubbed China last year for its comments on the alleged plot to assassinate Pannun for which the US agencies had arrested one Nikhil Gupta who claimed he was paid by an Indian official to kill Pannun. Responding to China's call for observance of 'international law' in the Pannun case, the Ministry Of External Affairs said, 'India and the US, as two countries adhering to the rule of law, are capable of dealing with any issues between them. There is no role for speculative comments and gratuitous advice by unrelated third parties.' (With TOI inputs)
Daily Tribune
4 days ago
- Daily Tribune
US drug raids net $10 mn in crypto linked to Sinaloa cartel
US drug enforcement agents seized more than $10 million in cryptocurrency linked to Mexico's Sinaloa cartel during raids that netted massive quantities of fentanyl and other drugs, officials said Tuesday. The Sinaloa cartel is one of six Mexican drug trafficking groups that President Donald Trump has designated as global 'terrorist' organizations. The cryptocurrency seizure in Miami, Florida was part of countrywide operations that netted 44 million fentanyl pills, 4,500 pounds (2,000 kilograms) of fentanyl powder and nearly 65,000 pounds of methamphetamine since January, the US Department of Justice said in a statement. The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), in coordination with its FBI partners, 'seized over $10 million dollars in cryptocurrency, directly linked to the Sinaloa cartel,' it added. It comes days after Ovidio Guzman Lopez, a son of Mexican drug kingpin Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman, pleaded guilty to drug charges in Chicago in a deal struck with prosecutors in return for a reduced sentence. His father was convicted in a high-profile trial in 2019 and is serving a life sentence in prison. 'DEA is hitting the cartels where it hurts -- with arrests, with seizures, and with relentless pressure,' DEA Acting Administrator Robert Murphy said. The cryptocurrency haul was among several major seizures across the country in recent weeks, including in California, Texas, Georgia and other states that netted thousands of pounds of drugs and dozens of arrests. In Galveston, Texas, agents uncovered more than 1,700 pounds of methamphetamine worth more than $15 million hidden inside a vehicle. Other raids yielded drugs hidden in produce shipments, including 705 pounds of methamphetamine concealed in cucumbers in Georgia and 783 pounds found in a refrigerated truck carrying blueberries in Texas.
The Hindu
4 days ago
- The Hindu
U.S. drug raids net $10 million in crypto linked to Sinaloa cartel
U.S. drug enforcement agents seized more than $10 million in cryptocurrency linked to Mexico's Sinaloa cartel during raids that netted massive quantities of fentanyl and other drugs, officials said Tuesday (July 15, 2025). The Sinaloa cartel is one of six Mexican drug trafficking groups that U.S. President Donald Trump has designated as global "terrorist" organizations. The cryptocurrency seizure in Miami, Florida was part of countrywide operations that netted 44 million fentanyl pills, 4,500 pounds (2,000 kilograms) of fentanyl powder and nearly 65,000 pounds of methamphetamine since January, the US Department of Justice said in a statement. The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), in coordination with its FBI partners, "seized over $10 million dollars in cryptocurrency, directly linked to the Sinaloa cartel," it added. It comes days after Ovidio Guzman Lopez, a son of Mexican drug kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, pleaded guilty to drug charges in Chicago in a deal struck with prosecutors in return for a reduced sentence. His father was convicted in a high-profile trial in 2019 and is serving a life sentence in prison. "DEA is hitting the cartels where it hurts -- with arrests, with seizures, and with relentless pressure," DEA Acting Administrator Robert Murphy said. The cryptocurrency haul was among several major seizures across the country in recent weeks, including in California, Texas, Georgia and other states that netted thousands of pounds of drugs and dozens of arrests. In Galveston, Texas, agents uncovered more than 1,700 pounds of methamphetamine worth more than $15 million hidden inside a vehicle. Other raids yielded drugs hidden in produce shipments, including 705 pounds of methamphetamine concealed in cucumbers in Georgia and 783 pounds found in a refrigerated truck carrying blueberries in Texas.
