US posts $5m reward for capture of El Chapo's drug trafficker brother and three alleged leaders of a branch of the Sinaloa Cartel in Chihuahua

Aureliano Guzmán-Loera is being sought for arrest by the U.S. government
A $5 million reward for information leading to his arrest/and or was revealed Friday by the Department of Justice
Federal authorities also offered a similar reward for Ruperto, Jose, and Heriberto Salgueiro-Nevarez
All four suspects have been identified as members of the Sinaloa Cartel, operating out of the northern states of Chihuahua and Sinaloa
They are being accused of trafficking fentanyl, heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine, and marijuana

Published: 22:39 GMT, 9 November 2021 | Updated: 02:08 GMT, 10 November 2021

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The US government put out a $5 million bounty for the brother of convicted drug lord Joaquín 'El Chapo' Guzmán and three other high-ranking leaders in the Sinaloa Carter as it tries to dismantle the feared Mexican criminal organization.

The bounties were announced Friday, the same day the United States Attorney's Office for the District of Arizona unsealed two indictments against the jailed drug lord's older sibling, Aureliano Guzmán-Loera, and the three Salgueiro-Nevarez brothers - Ruperto, José, and Heriberto.

Guzmán-Loera and the Salgueiro-Nevarez brothers were previously indicted by a Tucson federal grand jury and accused of 'the international distribution of controlled substances, including fentanyl, heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine, and marijuana.'

All four men had been charged on November 13, 2019 and February 19, 2020.

Joaquín 'El Chapo' Guzmán's Aureliano Guzmán-Loera is accused by the U.S. Department of State of 'international' drug trafficking. The agency announced a $5 million reward for information that could lead to his arrest and/or conviction

Joaquín 'El Chapo' Guzmán (pictured in January 2016) is serving a life sentence in the United States

Unlike his infamous younger brother El Chapo, Aureliano, 67, has managed to maintain a lower profile through the years.

According to Univision, he started out overseeing the Sinaloa Cartel's marijuana production and stepped into a larger leadership role once El Chapo, 64, was extradited to the United States, where he is serving a life sentence.

The Mexican government has been seeking to arrest Aureliano, who is accused of orchestrating the September 29, 2016, ambush that left six soldiers dead and 10 people, including a paramedic, wounded after his henchmen freed Julio Óscar Ortiz Vega following his arrest in the Sinaloa municipality of Badiraguato.

The Salgueiro-Nevarez clan is accused of operating the Sinaloa Cartel cell known as Salgueiro-Nevarez Organization, or SNO.

The U.S. Department of State is seeking the arrest of Sinaloa Cartel members Heriberto Salgueiro-Nevarez (left) and José Salgueiro-Nevarez (right) and has offered rewards of $5 million any information that will help authorities arrest and/or convict them. The accused of operating the Salgueiro-Nevarez Organization, a Sinaloa Cartel cell that was involved in the alleged international 'distribution of controlled substances, including fentanyl, heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine, and marijuana'

Ruperto Salgueiro-Nevarez is one of three siblings belonging to the Sinaloa Cartel cell known as the Salgueiro-Nevarez Organization, that is accused of the international 'distribution of controlled substances, including fentanyl, heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine, and marijuana'

Their sibling, Noel 'El Flaco' Salgueiro-Nevarez, was extradited to the United States in December 2019 to face drug trafficking charges.

Mexican authorities claim the family trafficked a monthly average of 15 tons of marijuana and two tons of cocaine into the United States

El Flaco founded the Gente Nueva in 2007, which served as an armed wing for the Sinaloa Cartel and was involved in a deadly conflict from 2008 to 2012 that left 10,000 people dead, including cartel members, in the border town of Ciudad Juárez.

The unsealing of the indictments was done a day after Mexican authorities had revealed that the military had arrested a high-ranking Sinaloa Cartel leader and four other members of the criminal organization during an October 28 raid that helped security forces shut down a secret fentanyl lab that was set up in a high-end residential neighborhood in the Sinaloa capital of Culiacán.

Ismael 'El Mayo' Zambada is leading the Sinaloa Cartel while his former associate and cartel co-founder El Chapo serves a life sentence in a U.S. prison

The Attorney General's Office identified the high-ranking leader as Armando and said he was in charge of the cartel's monthly production of 70 kilos of fentanyl paste that in the end was converted into 70 million pills - enough to kill as many as 30 million users a month of the addictive drug.

Authorities recovered 118 kilos of fentanyl paste valued at approximately $47 million.

The U.S. Department of State is also offering $15million for information that would result in the apprehension and/or conviction of the Sinaloa Cartel co-founder Ismael 'El Mayo' Zambada.

The 73-year-old Zambada is accused of conspiracy to possess five kilos of cocaine and more then 1,000 kilos of marijuana; conspiracy to import five kilos of cocaine and over 1,000 kilos of marijuana; and conspiracy to posses firearms in drug trafficking crimes and aiding and abetting.

Emma Coronel Aispuro, the wife of Mexican drug kingpin Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman, pleaded guilty Thursday to charges in the U.S. and admitted that she helped her husband run his multibillion-dollar criminal empire

El Chapo's wife, Emma Coronel Aispuro, has been in U.S. federal custody since February when she was arrested at Dulles International Airport in Virginia.

On June 10, the former beauty queen pleaded guilty to helping operate El Chapo's multibillion-dollar drug trafficking empire, forgoing her right to a trial.

She admitted to conspiring to distribute heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine and marijuana for several years; and also pleased guilty to a money laundering conspiracy charge and engaging in transactions with a foreign drug trafficker.

The nine cartels that control the US drug market

Sinaloa Cartel

Founded in 1989 by Héctor Palma, Joaquín 'El Chapo' Guzmán and Ismael 'El Mayo' Zambada, the Sinaloa Cartel today stands as one of the most established transnational drug trafficking organizations. While it has carved out a presence in 15 of the 32 Mexican states, the cartel also expanded its operations into the United States, Europe, Asia and South America.

With El Chapo in prison, the cartel has been plagued by internal fighting between Zambada and three of El Chapo's four sons, known as 'Los Chapitos'.

The Drug Enforcement Administration views the Sinaloa Cartel as one of the top two criminal organizations along with its rival, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel.

The DEA said the Sinaloa Cartel 'exports and distributes wholesale amounts of fentanyl, heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine, and marijuana in the United States by maintaining distribution hubs in various cities.'

How they get drugs into the US: 'Illicit drugs distributed by the Sinaloa Cartel are primarily smuggled into the United States through crossing points located along the [south west border]. The cartel employs gatekeepers assigned to Ports Of Entry and controls Arizona and California area smuggling corridors into the United States.'

Jalisco New Generation Cartel

The Jalisco New Generation Cartel was once allied to the Sinaloa Cartel as El Chapo depended on its firepower to combat Los Zetas.

Commandeered by Nemesio 'El Mencho' Oseguera, the group set itself apart from other cartels in the country butchering its enemies and today is considered by the Mexican government as the most dangerous group in the country.

The Jalisco New Generation Cartel is spread out across 23 of the Mexico's 32 states and currently finds itself at war with at least ten cartels.

The group has been known to have increased the power that its members have by purchasing military weapons and parts from the United States.

The Jalisco New Generation Cartel, according to the DEA, specializes 'in manufacturing and distributing large amounts of fentanyl, heroin, methamphetamine, and cocaine.'

How they get drugs into the US: 'The CJNG smuggles illicit drugs into the United States by accessing various trafficking corridors in northern Mexico along the SWB including Tijuana, Juarez, and Nuevo Laredo. The CJNG also has influence over the busiest port in Mexico, the Port of Manzanillo, and utilizes that influence for the distribution of large quantities of drugs.'

Beltrán-Leyva Organization

For a while, the Beltrán-Leyva Organization [BLO] was born out of the Sinaloa Cartel and became one of the most powerful cartels in Mexico led by the Beltrán Leyva brothers: Marcos Arturo, Carlos, Alfredo, Mario Alberto and Héctor.

The Beltrán-Leyva Organization was involved in a deadly war with the Sinaloa Cartel after the brothers accused their cousin, El Chapo, of being responsible for the January 2008 arrest of Alfredo. The brothers retaliated by reportedly plotting the murder of El Chapo's 22-year-old son, Édgar Guzmán, in May 2008.

Alfredo's arrest sparked one of the worst periods in Mexico's war on drugs as the BLO's new ally, the Juaréz Cartel, went to war with the Sinaloa Cartel in Ciudad Juaréz, a border town across from Texas.

The BLO also expanded its might by going toe-to-toe with the Gulf Cartel, Sinaloa Cartel and La Familia Cartel in the northeastern border city of Reynosa.

While the cartel remains viable today, the organization's members over time split into 11 factions.

How they get drugs into the US: 'BLO relies on its loose alliances with larger cartels for access to drug smuggling corridors along the [south west border].'

Los Zetas and the Cartel del Noreste [Northeast Cartel]

Los Zetas were created by Mexican military deserters who formed an alliance with the Gulf Cartel in 1999 and based its operations in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, across from Laredo, Texas. The group quickly carved out a named for itself through its savage killings. By 2010, Los Zetas split from the Gulf Cartel.

Los Zetas at one point dominated more cities across Mexico than the Sinaloa Cartel, with whom it clashed amidst a threat from the Gulf Cartel to eliminate it completely.

Like some of the other Mexican cartels, Los Zetas saw some of its members split and form their own groups.

Los Zetas role play in the drug trade is enforced by one of its factions, the Cartel del Noreste [Northeast Cartel]. Together, the criminal groups have set up its small, but lucrative, drug trade business into the Texas border cities of Laredo and Eagle Pass while controlling routes and turfs in the Mexican states of Tamaulipas, Nuevo León, Coahuila, San Luis Potosí and Zacatecas.

How they get drugs into the US: 'Members smuggle the majority of their illicit drugs through the [south west border] in the areas of Laredo, Texas; Eagle Pass, Texas; and the Mexican states of Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, and parts of Tamaulipas.'

Guerrero Unidos

Operating in central Mexico, the Guerrero Unidos broke away from the Beltrán-Leyva Organization and formed an alliance with the Jalisco New Generation Cartel to traffic drugs into the United States and bring back its profits into Mexico.

The cartel is accused of being behind the September 2014 disappearance of 43 students, who were kidnapped by local police in Iguala, a city in the southern state of Guerrero.

How they get drugs into the US: 'The cartel has a working partnership with the CJNG and uses the same transportation networks to move drug shipments into the United States and to return drug proceeds back to Mexico.'

Gulf Cartel

The Gulf Cartel is considered to be one of the oldest active criminal organizations in Mexico and is believed to have close ties to other gangs in Europe, West Africa, Asia, Central America, South America, and the United States.

The organization started off by smuggling alcohol into the United States during the Prohibition Era. It was not until the 1980 that it got itself immersed into the drug trade.

The DEA believes the Gulf Cartel has been working closely with the Jalisco New Generation Cartel as it ships heroin and cocaine to the Texas border cities of McAllen and Brownsville.

How they get drugs into the US: 'The Gulf Cartel focuses its drug trafficking activities on heroin and cocaine by transporting loads into the United States near the McAllen and Brownsville, Texas, areas.'

Juaréz Cartel and La Linea

The Juaréz Cartel cemented itself as one of the mayor players in the drug trade business back in the 1970s. It founder, Amado Carrillo, was known as 'El Señor de los Cielos' or 'The Lord of the Skies' due to the massive fleet of planes he owned to transport drugs, especially cocaine from Colombia and other countries in Latin America.

The cartel was once allied to El Chapo before that relationship fell apart after the notorious drug lord declined to pay the Juaréz Cartel for the right to use its drug smuggling routes.

The Juaréz Cartel has depended on its armed wing, La Línea, to transport heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine, and marijuana between Ciudad Juarez and El Paso, Texas.

How they get drugs into the US: 'These cartels' greatest territorial influence is in the state of Chihuahua near the [south west border]. This area has profitable smuggling opportunities between Ciudad Juarez and El Paso, Texas.'

La Familia Michoacana

La Familia Michoacana was once linked to the Gulf Cartel before it went on its own in 2006.

Between 2009 and 2010, the cartel proposed to the Mexican government that it had plans of laying down its arms as long as its home state of Michoacán was granted protection. However, President Felipe Calderón shot down their offer, which led to the cartel becoming increasingly involved in the funding of political candidates.

La Familia Michoacana today maintains a relationship with the Jalisco New Generation Cartel and other criminal groups as part of its drug smuggling operation.

How they get drugs into the US: 'LFM has some ties to the CJNG and also works with other smaller groups to further the cartel's drug trafficking activities.'

Los Rojos

Just like Guerreros Unidos, Los Rojos was formed as an armed wing and broke away from the Beltrán-Leyva Organization.

According to a 2020 Congressional report, Los Rojos 'operates in Guerrero and relies heavily on kidnapping and extortion for revenue as well as trafficking cocaine, although analysts dispute the scope of its involvement in the drug trade.'

How they get drugs into the US: 'Los Rojos is involved in heroin trafficking'