WASHINGTON — Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) joined the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) today in announcing sanctions against two Mexico-based businesses and five Colombian nationals involved in the global illicit drug and human smuggling trades.
HSI Tucson contributed to the partnered efforts that led to today’s sanctions against the companies, which are located in Mexico and are owned by designated Sinaloa Cartel fentanyl traffickers. The Sinaloa Cartel is one of the most notorious and pervasive drug trafficking organizations in the world and is responsible for a significant portion of the illicit fentanyl and other deadly drugs trafficked into the United States.
“Sanctions imposed by the U.S. Department of the Treasury serve as a critical tool in dismantling the financial networks that sustain cartels and drug trafficking organizations,” said HSI Arizona Special Agent in Charge Francisco B. Burrola. “By targeting members of these transnational criminal organizations and their assets, HSI and our law enforcement partners effectively disrupt their operations, choke off their resources, and ultimately weaken their ability to operate with impunity.”
OFAC also announced sanctions against five individual leaders within the Colombia-based Clan del Golfo (CDG), also known as Los Urabeños. CDG is one of the largest drug trafficking organizations in Colombia and is a key contributor to human smuggling through the Darién Gap in Panamá.
Today’s sanctions reflect a whole-of-government effort to counter the trafficking of illicit drugs into the United States, which included collaboration with HSI Tucson, FBI’s Tucson – Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force; the Drug Enforcement Agency Phoenix Field Division’s Drug Enforcement Administration Local Enforcement Response Squad; the DEA Phoenix, Scottsdale Task Force; the DEA Nogales District Office Group 51, Tucson Office; the Pima County Sheriff’s Department, and partnership with the Government of Mexico, which includes Mexico’s Financial Intelligence Unit.