The United States deals another blow to the Sinaloa Cartel. As part of its anti-drug policy, the Treasury Department, through the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), has issued sanctions against a network that operated jointly between India, Mexico, and Guatemala to traffic precursors for the manufacture and trafficking of fentanyl for the benefit of the Sinaloa Cartel. The U.S., through a statement, announced this Thursday the freezing of assets and properties north of the Rio Grande belonging to Mexican citizens Karina Carrillo Torres, Regulo Acosta Hernández, María Rugerio Arriaga, and José de Jesús Ramírez for their links to this illegal scheme.
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According to the OFAC statement, the U.S. points to Satishkumar Hareshbhai Sutaria, an India-based supplier of pharmaceutical chemicals, who marketed fentanyl precursors for use in the illicit production of this drug. Along with seller Yuktakumari Ashishkumar Modi, this woman facilitated the sale and shipment of these precursors to Mexico and Guatemala, including N-Boc-4-piperidone —a key chemical for the synthesis of this opioid—, and falsely labeled them as “safe chemicals.” Both used companies from that country, SR Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals; and Agrat Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals to carry out these transactions. The duo was arrested in March 2025 by Indian authorities for this activity.
According to the document, Karina Carrillo Torres is a Sinaloa-based intermediary for fentanyl chemical precursors. She has been linked to multiple seizures of 1-Boc-4-hydroxypiperidine, totaling over 50 kilograms. According to the investigation, she has family ties to the Los Chapitos faction of the Sinaloa Cartel and is the wife of Régulo Acosta Hernández, who is reportedly a member of this criminal organization, and whom OFAC has also sanctioned today.
OFAC accuses Acosta of being a Sinaloa-based fentanyl and cocaine supplier. “Acosta has used money launderers in the United States to receive payments for drug trafficking. Together [Carrillo and Acosta] own the companies Desarrollos Cartok S.A. de C.V. and Comercializadora Grupo Carhern S.A. de C.V. Both were arrested in Mexico in March 2026 for drug trafficking-related offenses,” the report details.
Another accused is María Rugerio Arriaga. Washington points to her for purchasing chemicals in India and selling them to drug producers for synthesis into fentanyl and methamphetamine. The document states that she owns the company Química Soluciones y Logística Interna Bajío, S.A. de C.V., based in León, Guanajuato.
José de Jesús Ramírez has been sanctioned for using his Jalisco-based companies, including Corporativo y Enlace Ram S.A. de C.V., to import methamphetamine chemical precursors into Mexico. His corporate network, according to the document, also includes the Mexican entities Enlace Forwarding Mexico, S. de R.L. de C.V. and Cargo Global 3PS, S. de R.L. de C.V., as well as the Florida, U.S.-based entity, E-Ram Group LLC.
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Two other companies sanctioned by OFAC are Reyma Global Trading S.A. de C.V., based in Mexico City, which is accused of importing large quantities of chemicals used in methamphetamine production for various organizations, including the Sinaloa Cartel. Likewise, Aduaeasy S. de R.L. de C.V. has also been mentioned for its role in importing chemicals from Asia for use in the production of the same drug.
In Guatemala, within this same network, Jaime Barrientos Camaz has been accused, identified as a fentanyl precursor intermediary who, through the company J y C Importc, received 116 kilograms of N-Boc-4-piperidone from Indian companies over a two-month period. Within this same scheme, Central Logística de Servicios, another company from that Central American nation, has been singled out for import and export dedicated to shipping fentanyl precursors, as well as the finished drug.
Links with Los Mayos and Los Chapitos
As part of this extensive illicit opioid network, OFAC has also included two individuals linked to the Sinaloa Cartel among those sanctioned, including Ramiro Félix Heras. Félix is a high-ranking member of the Los Mayos faction, one of the factions vying for control of the criminal organization, and is involved in smuggling fentanyl and methamphetamines into the U.S.
For his part, Alejandro Reynoso Jiménez is allegedly a chemist and operator of clandestine laboratories in Guadalajara, Jalisco, where he obtained and used chemical precursors for the production of fentanyl for this criminal group, specifically for the Los Chapitos faction. “Using his pharmacy Botánica 2000 in Guadalajara, Reynoso produced fentanyl pills for shipment to the United States. Reynoso was arrested in Madrid, Spain, in November 2025,” the statement specifies.
All properties or assets of the sanctioned individuals, located in the United States or in the possession of any citizen of that country, are seized and must be reported to OFAC. The measure affects, as stipulated in the document, any entity, body, or company that is owned, directly or indirectly, individually or collectively, 50% or more, by these designated individuals.
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