Rubio and Bessent Go After Sinaloa and Its Fentanyl Pipeline

With operations in at least 47 countries around the world, the Sinaloa Cartel is largely considered one of the most powerful criminal organizations in the Western Hemisphere. One of the first things the Donald Trump administration did in 2025 was designate it as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO).  

Sinaloa is also one of the driving factors behind the fentanyl crisis in the United States. Back in the 1980s, it focused heavily on trafficking cocaine, heroin, marijuana, and methamphetamine, but in the 2010s, it began to diversify heavily into fentanyl. Heavy demand for synthetic opioids in the U.S. and the fact that it's much easier to make synthetic drugs with chemicals than rely on large-scale farming drove the change. 

This cartel and others source a lot of their chemicals from China and India, make their products in clandestine labs in Mexico, and then smuggle them over the border in numerous ways, like paying U.S. citizens to hide them in their vehicles and using those tunnels we've all heard so much about. Some even use drones for limited drops. 

Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are taking major steps to help combat that this week. 

On Thursday, the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) "sanctioned 23 individuals and entities that comprise a sophisticated synthetic opioid procurement network with ties to the Sinaloa Cartel." 

Here's more: 

 Chemical suppliers and brokers, including those designated today, have reshaped the narcotics landscape by enabling Mexican cartels to synthesize illicit drugs from precursor chemicals primarily imported from Asia.  By exploiting international supply chains and clandestine production facilities, these networks manufacture highly potent and dangerous synthetic opioids more efficiently than ever before.  These illicit drugs, including fentanyl and methamphetamine, ultimately reach the streets of American cities and kill tens of thousands of Americans each year. Today’s designations target every stage of the synthetic opioid supply chain.

"President Trump has been clear that terrorist cartels will not be allowed to wreak havoc on our borders and in our communities," Bessent said. "Treasury will continue to target every stage of the opioid supply chain to Keep America Safe and prevent more lives lost to fentanyl." 

According to the State Department, the network spans India, Guatemala, and Mexico. 

This comes after Rubio announced that he was imposing "visa restrictions on 75 individuals who are family members or close personal or business associates of persons linked to the Sinaloa Cartel" earlier this week. 

The Trump Administration continues to make our nation and region safer and stronger. Today, I’m taking steps to impose visa restrictions on 75 individuals who are family members or close associates of persons linked to the Sinaloa Cartel sanctioned under E.O. 14059. @StateDept…

— Secretary Marco Rubio (@SecRubio) April 20, 2026

These are great steps, and it would be nice to see cartels of this magnitude stopped or, at least, weakened, while Trump is president. Unfortunately, due to its decentralized nature, Sinaloa isn't going to be easy to take down. We've seen that with the arrests of previous leaders, like El Chapo and, more recently, El Mayo and Joaquín Guzmán López (El Chapo's son) in 2024. Unlike other organizations, losing major leadership doesn't really have an impact. The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) calls it an "umbrella model." The various factions simply keep operating and sometimes they even expand. It's almost a fast food franchise but with drugs instead of fries. 

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum's reluctance to go after the cartels running her nation doesn't help matters much, but it's best not to underestimate what Trump, Rubio, and Bessent can do. After watching how they've handled Venezuela, I'm convinced they can do almost anything, at least on this side of the globe.  

Editor’s Note: Thanks to President Trump and his administration’s bold leadership, we are respected on the world stage, and our enemies are being put on notice. 

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