US offers 5 million in bounty for Mexican drug lords linked to infamous El Chapo

The US State Department announced a $5 million information reward for anyone willing to come forward with details about four Mexican drug lords, one of whom is the brother of jailed drug trafficker and cartel leader Joaquin Guzman aka 'El Chapo'. Aureliano Guzman-Loera, brothers Ruperto Salgueiro-Nevarez, Jose Salgueiro-Nevarez and Heriberto Salgueiro-Nevarez are the persons wanted by the United States.

They are being charged with 'international conspiracy' to "distribute marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamine, and fentanyl," State Department Ned Price said in a statement. The four wanted drug lords are operating under the Sinoloa drug cartel which El Chapo was leading until his arrest and imprisonment. On of the groups main smuggled drugs, fentanyl, is responsible for over 92,000 deaths by overdose between 2020 and 219 in the USA said Price.

The US and Mexico have been cooperating under the aegis of the Merida Initiative which has been combatting drug trafficking in both countries. America has provided arms and intelligence for the project. El Chapo was arrested and extradited in 2017 and then convicted two years later, leaving behind his notorious drug cartel to continue business.