Showing posts with label OFFICE OF FOREIGN ASSETS CONTROL. Show all posts
Showing posts with label OFFICE OF FOREIGN ASSETS CONTROL. Show all posts

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

U.S. TREASURY DESIGNATES FORMER CAPTAIN IN VENEZUELA'S NATIONAL GUARD AS A DRUG KINGPIN

FROM:  U.S. TREASURY 
Action Designates Former Venezuelan Military Official, Previously Indicted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of New York, Who Aided Mexican Drug Cartels

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of the Treasury today designated Venezuelan national, Vassyly Kotosky Villarroel Ramirez, as a drug kingpin pursuant to the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act (Kingpin Act).  Villarroel Ramirez, a former Captain in Venezuela’s National Guard (Guardia Nacional), was designated for the significant role he plays in international narcotics trafficking in both Colombia and Venezuela.  While serving as a Captain in Venezuela’s National Guard, Villarroel Ramirez arranged for the transportation of loads of cocaine as well as the U.S. dollar proceeds from the sale of the cocaine, using various airports, seaports, and official government vehicles in Venezuela.  Today’s action complements a 2011 indictment against Villarroel Ramirez by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of New York (EDNY) on multiple cocaine trafficking charges.

“Villarroel Ramirez is a prime example of a narcotics trafficker who exploited his former military position and connections to facilitate the transport of cocaine to Mexico and profit from the sales that followed,” said Treasury’s Director of the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) Adam J. Szubin. “We will continue to work with our law enforcement colleagues to target this type of abusive behavior which perpetuates the criminal violence linked to the narcotics trade.”

Villarroel Ramirez provided security and protection when cocaine loads and the proceeds from Mexico were smuggled from or into Venezuela’s Maiquetía International Airport via commercial or private aircraft.  He facilitated the cocaine loads from Colombia through Venezuela in partnership with known drug traffickers such as Daniel Barrera Barrera (alias “El Loco Barrera”), Javier Antonio Calle Serna (alias “Comba”), and Jose Gerardo Alvarez Vazquez (alias “El Indio”) – all of whom have been designated as foreign narcotics traffickers under the Kingpin Act.  The cocaine shipments benefited Mexican drug trafficking organizations, specifically the Sinaloa Cartel, Los Zetas, and the Beltran Leyva Organization – all of which have been identified by the President as significant foreign narcotics traffickers under the Kingpin Act.

On March 30, 2011, Villarroel Ramirez and a co-conspirator were indicted in the EDNY on six counts of cocaine trafficking-related charges.  According to the indictment, between January 2004 and December 2009 Villarroel Ramirez and the co-conspirator imported thousands of kilograms of cocaine from Colombia through Venezuela to Mexico, for transportation to and distribution within the United States.  Also, Villarroel Ramirez is reportedly charged with narcotics trafficking and money laundering in Venezuela since 2008.

Today’s action, taken pursuant to the Kingpin Act, generally prohibits U.S. persons from engaging in any transactions with Villarroel Ramirez and freezes any assets he may have under U.S. jurisdiction.

This action would not have been possible without the support of the Drug Enforcement Administration and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations.

Since June 2000, the President has identified 103 drug kingpins, and OFAC has designated more than 1,300 businesses and individuals, pursuant to the Kingpin Act.  Penalties for violations of the Kingpin Act range from civil penalties of up to $1.075 million per violation to more severe criminal penalties.  Criminal penalties for corporate officers may include up to 30 years in prison and fines up to $5 million.  Criminal fines for corporations may reach $10 million.  Other individuals face up to 10 years in prison and fines pursuant to Title 18 of the United States Code for criminal violations of the Kingpin Act.

Saturday, August 3, 2013

TREASURY TARGETS SUPPORTERS, BUSINESSES LINKED TO LEADER OF SINALOA CARTEL

FROM:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TREASURY 
Action Targets Supporters and Businesses Linked to Sinaloa Boss Ismael Zambada Garcia

 WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of the Treasury today designated three individuals and three entities linked to Ismael Zambada Garcia, one of the principal leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel.  Those designated include Jose Antonio Nunez Bedoya, a Mexican attorney and notary public who helps to create front companies in order to conceal and launder assets on behalf of Zambada Garcia, members of Zambada Garcia’s family, and other members of the Sinaloa Cartel.  Nunez Bedoya incorporated Estancia Infantil Nino Feliz and Establo Puerto Rico on behalf of Zambada Garcia, and he notarized real estate purchases on behalf of Santa Monica Dairy, all of which were previously designated by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) in May 2007.  Additionally, Nunez Bedoya notarized real estate purchases on behalf of Sinaloa Cartel leader Joaquin Guzman Loera and his wife, Griselda Lopez Perez, whom OFAC designated in September 2012.

“Treasury will continue to target and disrupt financial operations linked to the Sinaloa Cartel by taking action against any facilitators, legal or financial professionals, or businesses that are laundering their narcotics proceeds,” said OFAC Director Adam J. Szubin.

The cash-intensive businesses designated by OFAC today were Parque Acuatico Los Cascabeles, a Sinaloa-based water park, Centro Comercial y Habitacional Lomas, a shopping mall in Culiacan, and Rancho Agricola Ganadero Los Mezquites, a cattle ranch in Sinaloa.  Nunez Bedoya incorporated and notarized all three businesses on behalf of Zambada Garcia.

Also designated today were Tomasa Garcia Rios and Monica Janeth Verdugo Garcia, wife and daughter of deceased narcotics trafficker Jose Lamberto Verdugo Calderon.  Verdugo Calderon, who was killed by the Mexican military in January 2009, was widely identified by U.S. and Mexican authorities as a major financial operative and lieutenant for Zambada Garcia.  Tomasa Garcia Rios and Monica Janeth Verdugo Garcia own Rancho Agricola Ganadero Los Mezquites and Parque Acuatico Los Cascabeles.

Today’s action would not have been possible without critical support from the Drug Enforcement Administration.

“The Sinaloa Cartel cannot hide behind front companies like a water park or agricultural business,” said DEA Special Agent in Charge Doug Coleman.  “We are working with OFAC to expose these traffickers’ front companies for what they really are – illegal enterprises that fuel the drug trade, its violence and corruption.  As we continue to follow the money trail, we starve these traffickers of their assets and eventually put their global criminal networks out of business.”

Today’s action, pursuant to the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act (Kingpin Act), generally prohibits U.S. persons from conducting financial or commercial transactions with these designees and also freezes any assets they may have under U.S. jurisdiction.  The President named Ismael Zambada Garcia and the Sinaloa Cartel as significant foreign narcotics traffickers pursuant to the Kingpin Act in May 2002 and April 2009, respectively.

Internationally, OFAC has designated more than 1,300 businesses and individuals linked to 103 drug kingpins since June 2000.  Penalties for violations of the Kingpin Act range from civil penalties of up to $1.075 million per violation to more severe criminal penalties.  Criminal penalties for corporate officers may include up to 30 years in prison and fines up to $5 million. Criminal fines for corporations may reach $10 million.  Other individuals could face up to 10 years in prison and fines pursuant to Title 18 of the United States Code for criminal violations of the Kingpin Act.

Friday, June 8, 2012

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY TARGETS DRUG KINGPINS



FROM:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TREASURY
Sanctions directed against a Son and Wife of Chapo Guzman Loera
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) today announced the designation of two key Sinaloa Cartel operatives, Maria Alejandrina Salazar Hernandez  and Jesus Alfredo Guzman Salazar, a wife and son of drug lord Joaquin “Chapo” Guzman Loera, respectively.  Today’s action, pursuant to the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act (Kingpin Act), prohibits U.S. persons from conducting financial or commercial transactions with these two individuals, and also freezes any assets they may have under U.S. jurisdiction.

“Today marks the sixth time in the past year that OFAC has targeted and exposed operatives of the Chapo Guzman organization,” said OFAC Director Adam J. Szubin.  “This action builds on Treasury’s aggressive efforts, alongside its law enforcement partners, to target individuals who facilitate Chapo Guzman’s drug trafficking operations and to pursue the eventual dismantlement of his organization, which is culpable in untold violence.”

OFAC is designating Jesus Alfredo Guzman Salazar and Maria Alejandrina Salazar Hernandez for their roles in the operations of Guzman Loera’s drug trafficking organization and the Sinaloa Cartel.  Jesus Alfredo Guzman Salazar, along with his father Joaquin “Chapo” Guzman Loera, was indicted on multiple drug trafficking charges in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois in August 2009.  Maria Alejandrina Salazar Hernandez provides material support to the drug trafficking activities of her husband Guzman Loera and the Sinaloa Cartel.

Guzman Loera and the Sinaloa Cartel were identified by the President as significant foreign narcotics traffickers pursuant to the Kingpin Act in 2001 and 2009, respectively.
Today’s action would not have been possible without the key support of the Drug Enforcement Administration as well as that of the ICE Homeland Security Investigations directorate.

Internationally, OFAC has designated more than 1,100 businesses and individuals linked to 97 drug kingpins since June 2000.  Penalties for violations of the Kingpin Act range from civil penalties of up to $1.075 million per violation to more severe criminal penalties.  Criminal penalties for corporate officers may include up to 30 years in prison and fines up to $5 million. Criminal fines for corporations may reach $10 million.  Other individuals could face up to 10 years in prison and fines pursuant to Title 18 of the United States Code for criminal violations of the Kingpin Act.

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