US to sanction Mexican drug cartel Jalisco over fentanyl trafficking

FIRST ON FOX: The Treasury Department is expected to announce sanctions Tuesday against individuals and entities linked to a violent Mexico-based drug trafficking cartel responsible for a significant portion of fentanyl and other deadly drugs trafficked into the United States, Fox News Digital has learned.

The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control is set to announce sanctions against nine Mexican nationals and 26 Mexico-based entities linked to a fuel theft network that generates tens of millions of dollars for the cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacion.

'MOST RUTHLESS' MEXICAN CARTELS OPERATE IN ALL 50 STATES, BRING TURF WARS TO US: DEA

Mexico-based drug trafficking cartels, like cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacion, have turned to fuel theft in recent years, resulting in billions of dollars in lost revenue to the Mexican government. 

The Treasury Department's move to sanction was coordinated with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), as well as Mexico’s government. U.S. officials also coordinated with Mexico’s financial intelligence unit. 

Several bags of fentanyl were seized in Nogales, Arizona. Border agents and officers seized more than 1,900 pounds of the illicit drug in October. (CBP)

Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo told Fox News Digital the Biden administration is "committed to taking decisive action to disrupt the funding and operations of deadly fentanyl-trafficking cartels like CJNG." 

Adeyemo said that the cartel’s "diverse revenue streams, including fuel theft, ultimately strengthen its ability to traffic fentanyl and other deadly drugs into the United States." 

"Treasury will continue to use its expertise and tools to target relentlessly drug trafficking gangs to make our communities safer and keep poisonous drugs like fentanyl off our streets," Adeyemo said. 

Last year, the Treasury sanctioned members of the Sinaloa cartel. 

US SLAPS SANCTIONS ON SINALOA CARTEL MEMBERS, INCLUDING ‘THE ANTHRAX MONKEY,’ AS PART OF ANTI-FENTANYL MOVES

Earlier this year, the DEA said cartels Jalisco Nueva Generacion and Sinaloa have flooded major U.S. cities with meth and fentanyl, and they use violence to protect their turf. 

Jalisco cartel members admitted to coordinating the shipment of a load of 199.97 kilograms of liquid methamphetamine – with a street value of up to $9.9 million – from Mexico to Dallas, federal prosecutors said. (US Attorney's Office North District of Texas)

"Together, the Sinaloa and Jalisco cartels have caused the worst drug crisis in U.S. history," the DEA report states. 

Sinaloa and Jalisco have "effectively eliminated any competition in U.S. markets" and "dictate the flow of nearly all illicit drugs" into the country, according to the report, which notes that thousands of cartel-linked dealers currently operate in the U.S. 

In late April, 12 traffickers tied to the Jalisco cartel were sentenced to 4.5 to 40 years in federal prison after they were busted in Del Rio, Texas, in 2021 for coordinating a shipment of nearly 200 kilograms of liquid methamphetamine worth $9.9 million.

Police officers stand at a scene where a vehicle has been set alight by members of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel following the detention of one of its leaders by Mexican federal forces, in Zapopan, in Jalisco state, Mexico, Aug. 9, 2022. (REUTERS/Fernando Carranza | inset: REUTERS/Andrew Kelly)

Over the course of that particular investigation, law enforcement seized about 650 kilograms of methamphetamine, 17 guns, $220,922 in cash and $12,200 in real and personal property, federal North Texas prosecutors said. 

Fentanyl, which can be fatal even in small doses, has caused the deaths of more than 70,000 Americans per year. It is often cut into other drugs or made into counterfeit pills, so users often do not realize what they are ingesting. 

The drug is primarily produced in Mexico by cartels using Chinese precursors and then shipped across the U.S. land border. 

The Biden administration launched a global coalition to address the threat of fentanyl, including cooperation with countries like Mexico to crack down on smugglers and regulate precursor chemicals. 

Last year, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen launched the Counter-Fentanyl Strike Force. In April, Yellen announced the launch of an exchange with the People’s Republic of China to "enhance cooperating in combatting money laundering associated with drug trafficking and other crime." 

Brooke Singman is a political correspondent and reporter for Fox News Digital, Fox News Channel and FOX Business.