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The US State Department has imposed visa restrictions on 75 people tied to the Sinaloa Cartel, barring their entry into the country as part of the Trump administration’s ongoing crackdown on drug trafficking organizations.
Some shit you should know before you dig in: The Sinaloa Cartel is one of the most powerful transnational criminal organizations in the world and is considered the primary pipeline for fentanyl smuggling into the US. Trump designated the cartel as a foreign terrorist organization in February 2025 and has since designated fentanyl itself as a weapon of mass destruction. The administration has used those designations to justify an aggressive anti-narcotics campaign that has included military strikes on suspected drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific, killing at least 177 people. More than 600 individuals and companies linked to the Sinaloa Cartel have been sanctioned over the years under existing executive orders.
What’s going on now: In an announcement Monday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed the visa restrictions against the 75 people with close ties to the cartel. Notably, the State Department did not publicly identify any of the 75 individuals, describing them only as family members or close personal and business associates of cartel members already sanctioned under the Biden administration. The restrictions are designed to squeeze the cartel’s broader support network rather than just its direct operational leadership.
In a statement, Secretary Rubio said, “Imposing visa restrictions on drug traffickers, their family members, and close personal and business associates will not only prevent their entry into our nation, but also serve as a deterrent to continued illicit activities.”
This all comes as the Trump administration has been escalating pressure on Latin American criminal organizations across the board. According to the Hill, the DEA arrested 617 people in a single operation targeting the Sinaloa Cartel, seizing over 700,000 counterfeit pills, 926 pounds of fentanyl powder, nearly $13 million in cash, and 420 firearms.
