LatinNews Daily - 05 October 2026

Mexico: On 29 September the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (Ofac) sanctioned 21 individuals and 25 entities that it said had ties to Mexico’s Cártel de Sinaloa. The sanctions mainly targeted those based in the cities of Tijuana and Mexicali in the northern border state of Baja California. Among those sanctioned was Ismael Zambada Sicairos, alias ‘Mayito Flaco’, the son of Ismael ‘El Mayo’ Zambada Garcia, the co-founder of the Cártel de Sinaloa who was arrested in July 2024. Ofac stated that Sicairos has filled the leadership void left by his father and is now the head of Los Mayos. Ofac also sanctioned four members of Zambada Sicairos’ inner circle, as well as targeting a Los Mayos cell operating in Tijuana, which it said was controlled by brothers Alfonso Arzate García, alias ‘Aquiles’, and René Arzate García, alias ‘La Rana’, whom Ofac re-designated after previously sanctioning in August 2023. Ofac also sanctioned three members of their “support network”, as well as the romantic partner of one of them. The sanctions also targeted four alleged Tijuana-based money launderers and linked businesses. A Mexicali-based “narco-corruption scheme” was also targeted, which Ofac said was led by Carlos Torres Torres, the ex-husband of Baja California state governor Marina del Pilar, and also involved his brother, Luis Alfonso Torres Torres, the former Mexicali director of public security, Pedro Ariel Mendivil García, and Rafael Buenrostro Martín, a former legislative adviser to the Baja California state government. Finally, Ofac re-designated José Angel Rivera Zazueta, a “senior Sinaloa Cartel leader”, and sanctioned Diosvany Samuel Chapotín Villalba, whom it said is involved in drug trafficking and is “a significant money launderer”. US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent stated via X that the sanctions demonstrated that, “no cartel kingpin, corrupt Mexican government official, or financial facilitator is beyond the reach of Treasury’s authorities”.

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