(C) U.S. State Dept
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U.S. brings narcotics traffickers to justice [1]

['Lauren Monsen']

Date: 2025-04-30 20:02:30+00:00

When seven members of the Sinaloa Cartel were arrested as part of efforts to disrupt the flow of the deadly synthetic opioid fentanyl to the United States, they were captured in Bogotá, Colombia; New York; Guatemala City; and Athens, Greece.

Those charged — among 27 people involved in fentanyl trafficking about whom the U.S. Department of State’s Narcotics Rewards Program has sought information leading to conviction — dealt fentanyl by the kilogram, exchanged drugs for automatic weapons, operated drug labs, and arranged for the delivery of precursor chemicals or laundered money, authorities say.

The rewards program is run by the State Department’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs and has helped to dismantle transnational drug trafficking networks for 39 years. It has paid $170 million in rewards and helped arrest or convict more than 90 major transnational drug traffickers.

Today, the rewards program is offering $1 million for information leading to the conviction of each of the seven Sinaloa Cartel members captured earlier: Anastacio Soto Vega, Humberto Beltran Cuen, Sergio Antonio Duarte Frias, Julio Marin Gonzalez, Silvano Francisco Mariano, Carlos Omar Felix Gutierrez and Ana Gabriela Rubio Zea.

An eighth Sinaloa Cartel member, Néstor Isidro Pérez Salas, was arrested in Mexico in a separate law-enforcement action. Pérez Salas had helped lead security operations for the cartel, the world’s largest and most violent fentanyl trafficking organization. At the time of his arrest, the reward for Pérez Salas’ arrest and conviction was up to $3 million. (He was extradited to U.S. custody about a year ago.)

To provide information to the rewards program, people outside the U.S. may go to a U.S. embassy or consulate. To offer information within the United States, tipsters can contact the Federal Bureau of Investigation or the Drug Enforcement Administration, depending on the target.

The program is offering millions in rewards for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of other narcotics traffickers:

Up to $15 million for Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG) founder and leader Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes. CJNG is among the most violent drug cartels in Mexico and one of eight cartels or transnational criminal organizations the State Department designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization and as Specially Designated Global Terrorists in February 2025.

Up to $10 million for Ryan Wedding, a former Olympic snowboarder from Canada, who runs a transnational cocaine trafficking network and is wanted in connection with crimes including murder.

Up to $5 million for Haroldo Waldemar Lorenzana Terraza, a narcotics trafficker from Guatemala with ties to the Sinaloa Cartel. The U.S. reward is offered in coordination with the Guatemalan government, which in 2022 listed Lorenzana as one of the country’s “100 most wanted.”

“We are committed to protecting American communities from thugs who … deliberately peddle illicit narcotics and prey on our youth,” said F. Cartwright Weiland, senior bureau official for the State Department’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs.

Drug dealers are not the only criminals the State Department helps bring to justice. Through its Transnational Organized Crime Rewards Program, the department seeks fugitives wanted for offenses including cybercrime, human trafficking, wildlife trafficking, money laundering and arms dealing.

Ruja Ignatova is among the wanted criminals. Nicknamed “CryptoQueen,” Ignatova, a Bulgarian-born German national, is wanted on wire-fraud and money-laundering charges in connection with one of the largest global fraud schemes in history. As a co-founder of OneCoin Ltd., Ignatova defrauded billions of dollars from investors worldwide. She has been a fugitive since 2017. The State Department is offering up to $5 million for information leading to her arrest and conviction.

To send tips, please refer to individual reward posters.

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[1] Url: https://share.america.gov/us-brings-narcotics-traffickers-to-justice/

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