The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) arrested more than 600 people allegedly linked to the violent Sinaloa drug cartel in a five-day operation at the end of August, authorities announced Monday.
DEA agents also seized 420 firearms, nearly $13 million in cash and assets, and a massive drug haul that included 714,707 counterfeit pills, 926 pounds of fentanyl powder, 4,870 pounds of methamphetamine, 16,466 pounds of cocaine and 36.5 pounds of heroin.
“These results demonstrate the full weight of DEA’s commitment to protecting the American people,” DEA administrator Terrance Cole said in a statement. “Every kilogram of poison seized, every dollar stripped from the cartels and every arrest we make represents lives saved and communities defended.”
“DEA will not relent until the Sinaloa Cartel is dismantled from top to bottom,” he added.
The Trump administration earlier this year designated the Cartel de Sinaloa and seven other Latin American gangs — Tren de Aragua, Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generación, Carteles Unidos, Cartel del Noreste, Cartel del Golfo and La Nueva Familia Michoacana — as terrorist organizations, following a pledge President Trump made during his 2024 campaign.
The Sinaloa cartel was cofounded by notorious Mexican drug kingpin Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzman.
According to the DEA’s estimates, tens of thousands of Sinaloa members, associates and facilitators are currently operating in at least 40 countries and primarily traffic synthetic drugs to amass their fortunes.
“The Sinaloa Cartel’s reach is vast and unremitting,” said Brian M. Clark, special agent in charge of the DEA’s Los Angeles Field Division. “This ruthless cartel is intent on cashing in, permeating our communities with their poison, with no regard to human suffering.”
The August operation included DEA agents from 23 domestic field divisions and seven foreign regions working Aug. 25 to Aug. 29.
Trump reportedly authorized the Pentagon last month to use military force against terrorist-designated cartels, after earlier granting the military the ability to take control of federal land at the southern border and offering to send troops into Mexico to fight organized drug crime in the country.
