The Department of Justice has claimed that El Chapo's sons fed their enemies to tigers as well as tortured them with chilies.
The sons of the notorious Mexican cartel leader Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán have made a name for themselves as the Los Chapitos.
They rely on fear to hold onto power and aren't above getting their hands dirty and using violence and torture to maintain their stronghold.
The US Department of Justice has recently released an indictment detailing the cartel's operations and has outlined some barbaric tactics used by El Chapo's sons, Iván and Alfredo Guzmán Salazar and Joaquín and Ovidio Guzmán López.
The cartel is revered as one of the most powerful in the world when it comes to drug trafficking, but evidently, this isn't all that they are known for.
The indictment states that the cartel is "the largest, most violent, and most prolific fentanyl trafficking operation in the world," while adding that rivals of the group, as well as law enforcement officials and members of other cartels, were transported to the Navolato, Sinaloa, ranch owned by Iván Archivaldo Guzmán Sálazar where they were subsequently tortured.
The indictment reads: "Once information was obtained by these captives, typically through torture, these individuals were killed — either by or at the direction of the Chapitos themselves — and the bodies disposed of throughout the area. While many of these victims were shot, others were fed dead or alive to tigers."
Other methods of torture were outlined: "For approximately two hours, members of the Ninis (the cartel's hitmen) tortured Victim 5 by inserting a corkscrew into Victim 5's muscles, ripping it out of his muscles, and placing hot chilis in his open wounds and nose."
The documents stated that the cartel tested the strength of the fentanyl they allegedly produce on prisoners, as well as using methods such as electrocution and waterboarding.
As reported by CBS, only Ovidio Guzmán López has been captured by law enforcement while the other brothers have been charged but remain active.
The Sinaloa cartel's founder, El Chapo, is currently serving a life sentence at a maximum security prison in Colorado after being convicted of drug trafficking, weapon-related offenses, and money laundering.
As cited by CBS, DEA chief Anne Milgram Milgram said: "Death and destruction are central to their whole operation," while noting that the cartel's global network "fuels violence and death on both sides of the border."