MEXICO CITY — Sons of former Sinaloa cartel chief Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán have denied accusations made by U.S. prosecutors final month, saying in a letter that they haven't any involvement within the manufacturing and trafficking of the potent artificial opioid fentanyl.

The letter was offered to The Associated Press by José Refugio Rodríguez, a lawyer for the Guzmán household. Despite not being signed, Rodríguez mentioned he may affirm that the letter was from Guzmán’s sons.

The Mexican authorities didn't explicitly affirm the letter’s authenticity, however President Andrés Manuel López Obrador mentioned Thursday it had been analyzed by the nation’s safety council.

The sons of Guzmán mentioned “we have never produced, manufactured or commercialized fentanyl nor any of its derivatives,” the letter mentioned. “We are victims of persecution and have been made into scapegoats.”

Milenio Television first reported the letter Wednesday.

U.S. prosecutors detailed in court docket paperwork final month how the Sinaloa cartel had develop into the biggest exporter of fentanyl to the United States, leading to tens of 1000's of overdose deaths. Guzmán is serving a life sentence within the United States for drug trafficking.

Guzmán’s sons are recognized collectively because the “Chapitos”. Iván Archivaldo Guzmán Salazar and Jesús Alfredo Guzmán Salazar are the lead defendants amongst 23 associates charged in a New York indictment. Ovidio Guzmán López, alias “the Mouse,” who allegedly pushed the cartel into fentanyl, is charged in one other indictment in the identical district. Mexico arrested him in January and the U.S. authorities has requested extradition. Joaquín Guzmán López is charged within the Northern District of Illinois.

U.S. prosecutors say the “Chapitos” have tried to pay attention energy via violence, together with torturing Mexican federal brokers and feeding rivals to their pet tigers.

The sons deny that too, saying they aren't the leaders of the Sinaloa cartel and don't even have tigers. They describe a free federation of unbiased drug producers and producers within the state of Sinaloa, a lot of whom applicable their identify for their very own benefit.

Mexico arrested Ovidio Guzmán in January and has seized some fentanyl laboratories, however López Obrador has repeatedly denied that Mexico produces the drug and accused U.S. authorities of spying and espionage after the indictments have been unsealed.

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