This Thursday, April 23, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the United States Department of the Treasury sanctioned 23 individuals and entities that make up a sophisticated synthetic opioid acquisition network linked to the Sinaloa Cartel, a designated foreign terrorist organization.
Chemical suppliers and distributors, including designated ones, have transformed the drug trafficking landscape by allowing Mexican cartels to synthesize illicit drugs from chemical precursors imported primarily from Asia, he added.
He explained that by exploiting international supply chains and clandestine production facilities, these networks are manufacturing highly potent and dangerous synthetic opioids more efficiently than ever before.
According to OFAC, these illicit drugs, such as fentanyl and methamphetamine, hit the streets of American cities and kill tens of thousands of Americans each year. The April 23 designations cover all stages of the synthetic opioid supply chain.
“President Trump has made clear that terrorist cartels will not be allowed to wreak havoc on our borders and in our communities,” said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
He added: “The Treasury Department will continue to target every stage of the opioid supply chain to keep America safe and prevent more lives from being lost to fentanyl.”
According to OFAC, this Thursday’s action reflects a unified effort by the Government to guarantee operational coordination and maximize the impact against transnational criminal networks.
The designations were issued pursuant to Executive Order (EO) 14059, which addresses the international proliferation of illicit drugs and their means of production, and EO 13224, as amended, which targets terrorists and their supporters.
The measure adopted this April 23 is also part of Executive Order 14367, which designated fentanyl and its chemical precursors as weapons of mass destruction (WMD).
OFAC highlighted that the lethality of illicit fentanyl, its manufacturing and distribution by organized criminal networks, and its role as a source of income for violent cartels make it an imminent threat to the national security of the United States.
In that sense, the Treasury Department committed to using all means at its disposal to dismantle the manufacturing and trafficking of fentanyl.
From laboratories to markets
According to OFAC, Mexican cartels depend on chemical companies around the world to obtain the precursors and other essential chemicals necessary to produce synthetic opioids.
These chemical suppliers are primarily located in Asia, where they market and sell fentanyl precursors, such as 4-piperidone, N-Boc-4-piperidone, and other related derivatives, to brokers by the kilogram.
According to estimates from the United States Department of Justice, one kilogram of the precursor N-Boc-4-piperidone produces around 1.83 kilograms of fentanyl, a volume with the potential to produce approximately 900,000 lethal doses.
Shipping to Mexico and Guatemala
The intermediaries, in collusion with the Mexican cartels, facilitate the logistics and shipping of these chemicals to Mexico or Guatemala by air or sea.
Shipments containing kilograms of lethal fentanyl precursors are often mislabeled as “safe chemicals.”
The middlemen then transfer the chemicals to individuals known as “cocineros,” who control clandestine synthetic drug laboratories operated by the cartels, he explained.
According to the US, one of these cartels is the Sinaloa Cartel, a foreign terrorist organization and one of the largest producers of fentanyl and other illicit drugs destined for the United States.
For decades, this organization has flooded the United States with fentanyl, methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin and other illicit drugs.
“The Sinaloa Cartel, one of the most powerful drug cartels in the world, operates extensive transnational networks to facilitate the acquisition of chemical precursors in Asia and synthesize them into fentanyl and other synthetic drugs in its clandestine laboratories in Mexico,” the information noted.
Precursor sources based in India
On April 23, OFAC designated Satishkumar Hareshbhai Sutaria (Sutaria), a pharmaceutical chemicals supplier based in India, who traded in fentanyl precursors for use in the illicit production of this drug.
Together with seller Yuktakumari Ashishkumar Modi (Modi), Sutaria facilitated the sale and shipment of these precursors to Mexico and Guatemala, including N-Boc-4-piperidone, and mislabeled them as “safe chemicals.”
According to the US, Sutaria and Modi used SR Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals (SR Chemicals) and Agrat Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals (Agrat Chemicals), both companies based in India, to carry out these transactions.
Sutaria and Modi were arrested in March 2025 by Indian authorities for this activity, he added.
OFAC designated Sutaria, Modi, SR Chemicals and Agrat Chemicals pursuant to Executive Order 14059, for having engaged or attempted to engage in activities or transactions that have materially contributed or pose a significant risk of contributing to the international proliferation of illicit drugs or their means of production.
Guatemalan intermediary
Additionally, OFAC appointed Jaime Augusto Barrientos Camaz (Barrientos), Guatemalan intermediary for fentanyl precursorswho sources their supplies from several companies in India, including Agrat Chemicals and SR Chemicals.
According to OFAC, Barrientos used the company J and C Import, based in Guatemala City, and was the final recipient of N-Boc-4-piperidone for a total of 116 kilograms over a two-month period.
Central Logistics of Services (Central) is another import and export company based in Guatemala that is dedicated to shipping fentanyl precursors, as well as finished fentanyl, OFAC said.
OFAC designated Barrientos, J and C Import and Central pursuant to Executive Order 14059, for having engaged or attempted to engage in activities or transactions that have materially contributed or pose a significant risk of contributing to the international proliferation of illicit drugs or their means of production.
He added that Karina Guadalupe Carrillo Torres (Carrillo) is an intermediary for chemical precursors of fentanyl based in Sinaloa, Mexico. She has been linked to multiple seizures of 1-Boc-4-hydroxypiperidine totaling more than 50kg.
Carrillo reportedly has family ties to the Chapitos faction of the Sinaloa cartel and is the wife of Régulo Acosta Hernández (Acosta), a member of that group, whom OFAC also designated on April 23.
Acosta is a supplier of fentanyl and cocaine based in Sinaloa, Mexico. He has used money launderers in the United States to receive payments for drug sales, OFAC stated.
Carrillo and Acosta are owners of the companies Desarrollos Cartok SA de CV (Cartok) and Comercializadora Grupo Carhern SA de CV (Carhern). Both were arrested in Mexico in March 2026 for crimes related to drug trafficking, according to the United States.
OFAC designated Carrillo and Acosta pursuant to Executive Order 14059 for having engaged or attempted to engage in activities or transactions that have materially contributed or pose a significant risk of contributing to the international proliferation of illicit drugs or their means of production.
Additionally, it designated Cartok and Carhern pursuant to Executive Order 14059 as being owned, controlled or directed by, or having acted on behalf of Carrillo.
OFAC added that María Viridiana Rugerio Arriaga (Rugerio) is a chemical precursor intermediary located in Mexico. It buys chemicals in India and sells them to drug producers for synthesis into fentanyl and methamphetamine.
Rugerio has acted as a broker for precursors and other essential chemicals used in the production of fentanyl and methamphetamine, including N-Boc-4-piperidone. It is the owner of the company Química Soluciones y Logística Interna Bajío, SA de CV (Química), based in León, Guanajuato, Mexico, she stated.
She was also designated for having participated or attempted to participate in activities or transactions that have contributed to the international proliferation of illicit drugs or their means of production.
José de Jesús Ramírez Torres (Ramírez) is an importer based in Jalisco, Mexico, who uses his companies, including Corporativo and Enlace Ram SA de CV (Enlace Ram), to import methamphetamine chemical precursors, OFAC stated.
Ramírez’s corporate network also includes Enlace Forwarding México, S. de RL de CV (Enlace Forwarding), Cargo Global 3PS, S. de RL de CV (Cargo Global), and the Florida-based entity E-Ram Group LLC (E-Ram).
OFAC designated Ramírez Torres pursuant to Executive Order 14059 for having engaged or attempted to engage in activities or transactions that have materially contributed or pose a significant risk of contributing to the international proliferation of illicit drugs or their means of production. He also appointed Enlace Ram, Enlace Forwarding and Cargo Global.
According to OFAC, Reyma Global Trading SA de CV (Reyma) is an importing company based in Mexico City that has imported large quantities of chemicals used in the production of methamphetamine for various organizations, including the Sinaloa cartel.
Aduaeasy S. de RL de CV (Aduaeasy) is an importing company based in Mexico that has received shipments of chemical products from Asia. OFAC also designated Reyma and Aduaeasy.
Additionally, he designated Ramiro Baltazar Félix Heras (Félix), a high-ranking member of the Los Mayos faction of the Sinaloa cartel, involved in smuggling fentanyl and methamphetamine into the United States.
He also designated Alejandro Reynoso Jiménez (Reynoso), a chemist who ran clandestine laboratories in Guadalajara, Jalisco, where he used chemical precursors to produce fentanyl for the Los Chapitos faction.
What do the sanctions entail?
As a result of the measure, all assets and economic interests of the designated persons that are in the United States or under the control of US citizens are blocked and must be notified to OFAC.
Likewise, any entity that is owned, directly or indirectly, 50% or more by one or more blocked persons is also subject to these measures.
Unless expressly authorized by OFAC, the regulations prohibit transactions by US persons or within the United States that involve assets of blocked persons.
Violations may result in civil or criminal penalties. OFAC may impose civil penalties under the principle of strict liability.
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