Overview

• The Treasury’s OFAC added the targets to the SDN list, triggering immediate blocking of any U.S.-held assets and prohibiting U.S. persons from dealing with them.
• Officials identify a network centered on the Favela López family and their company Sumilab, with affiliated entities including Favelab, Favela Pro, Qui Lab, Storelab, Agrolaren, Marcerlab and others operating in Sinaloa, Sonora and Baja California.
• OFAC says the network supplied precursor chemicals and laboratory equipment to the Sinaloa Cartel’s Los Chapitos faction, following an initial 2023 sanction of Sumilab after which related firms were rebranded to evade scrutiny.
• Reporting shows at least seven sanctioned firms supplied public bodies in northwest Mexico, receiving 630 contracts worth about 35.7 million pesos from universities, hospitals, water authorities and research centers since 2018.
• Treasury frames the action within expanded counterterrorism and counternarcotics authorities after designating the Sinaloa Cartel and Los Chapitos as terrorist entities, noting two faction leaders are in U.S. custody while Iván Archivaldo and Jesús Alfredo Guzmán remain at large.