meta_id 3536320

On September 29, 2026, the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated 21 individuals and 25 entities linked to the Sinaloa Cartel, targeting cartel leadership, money launderers, and corrupt Mexican government officials. The action focuses on disrupting the cartel's control of drug trafficking routes in Baja California, particularly around Tijuana and Mexicali, areas strategically positioned near the U.S.-Mexico border. The designations include Ismael Zambada Sicairos (known as "Mayito Flaco"), who has assumed leadership of the Los Mayos faction following his father's July 2024 arrest. Mayito Flaco, a dual Mexican-U.S. national born in Anaheim, California in 1982, has directed the group's criminal activities including drug trafficking, murder, extortion, and kidnapping. OFAC also targeted his inner circle, including advisors Hildegardo Gastelum Garcia and brothers Jorge Luis Mendoza Uriarte and Francisco Javier Mendoza Uriarte, as well as plaza bosses controlling key border territories. The action extends to corrupt officials, including Carlos Alberto Torres Torres, the ex-husband of the Governor of Baja California, who allegedly facilitates cartel activities and protects the organisation from law enforcement intervention. Additionally, OFAC designated financial facilitators operating money exchanges and front companies used to launder drug proceeds through bulk cash collections and cryptocurrency transactions. OFAC conducted the investigation in coordination with the Homeland Security Task Force and multiple federal agencies including the Drug Enforcement Administration, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The designations were made pursuant to Executive Order 14059, targeting international drug proliferation, and Executive Order 13224, as amended, targeting terrorists and their supporters. All property and interests in property of designated persons within the United States or controlled by U.S. persons are blocked. U.S. persons are prohibited from engaging in transactions involving designated individuals or entities unless authorised by OFAC licence.