The United States indicts leaders of the Mexican Sinaloa cartel for fentanyl trafficking

() — The Department of Justice of the United States announced this Friday charges against more than two dozen defendants, including three sons of the famous drug trafficker Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, in the framework of a wide investigation into the trafficking of fentanyl.

Attorney General Merrick Garland announced the charges at a press conference in Washington, also attended by DEA Administrator Anne Milgram and other senior federal prosecutors.

Accusations against the leaders of Mexico’s powerful Sinaloa cartel have been made public, including against Guzmán’s sons, known as the Chapitos.

The fentanyl, weapons trafficking and money laundering charges in three indictments involved a total of 28 defendants, of whom 23 resided in Mexico, four in China and one in Guatemala.

Charges have been filed against alleged chemical suppliers, laboratory managers, fentanyl dealers, financiers and arms dealers. Among the defendants are Chinese nationals accused of supplying the chemical precursors needed to make fentanyl.