The sons of infamous Sinaloa Cartel boss Joaquín 'El Chapo' Guzmán are executing their own dealers for not adhering to a new ban on one of the world's deadliest drugs.
Following the arrest of Ovidio Guzmán in January, the remaining sons released a statement claiming they had nothing to do with harmful fentanyl flooding into the US.
Iván Archivaldo Guzmán Salazar, Jesús Alfredo Guzmán Salazar and Joaquín Guzmán López – known as Los Chapitos – erected banners across several cities in the Mexican state of Sinaloa on Monday (October 2) telling traffickers in the region that production and transportation of fentanyl was "strictly prohibited".
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MILENIO reports that between September 15 and 20 dealers also received WhatsApp messages from suppliers announcing a "menu" change. Fentanyl was banned from being used as a mixer to enhance the effects of other drugs.
"The decision comes from above, from the brothers, and anyone caught disobeying will be punished," the message warned. That punishment, unsurprisingly, is death. And the ban appears to have been in place since Ovidio's arrest.
The dealer who shared the WhatsApp message with MILENIO said: "Everything changed when they caught El Ratón [Ovidio]. Suddenly, fentanyl was disavowed and Los Chapitos began to write off even their own sellers (who didn't listen)."
At least 10 dealers have been killed or disappeared, according to the source. Assassins are reportedly leaving a calling card too – blue fentanyl pills strewn across the bodies as a warning to others who would dare disobey Los Chapitos.
The most high-profile execution has been that of Luis Javier, an opioid trafficker that the US Government was offering a $1million reward for. His body turned up in Sinaloa's capital Culiacan last month.
The WhatsApp chain sent to dealers ended with four skull emojis, according to MILENIO. They are thought to represent the four Chapitos – Ovidio, Iván Archivaldo, Jesús Alfredo and Joaquín – and the punishment for failing to do as they say.
With Ovidio now in US custody and awaiting trial, US authorities have vowed to bring the other three brothers to justice. They are offering $10million rewards for both Iván Archivaldo and Jesús Alfredo, and $5million for Joaquín.
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