The United States has announced new economic sanctions against eight targets affiliated with the Mexican drug cartel La Nueva Familia Michoacana, accused of trafficking fentanyl and human smuggling. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen revealed these measures in Atlanta on Thursday, emphasizing the Biden administration’s commitment to combating the import of illegal drugs into the US.
The sanctions target leaders and key lieutenants of La Nueva Familia Michoacana, a violent cartel involved in drug production and distribution, arms trafficking, money laundering, and murder. This cartel dominates significant areas of southern and central Mexico and has expanded into the migrant smuggling industry amid rising migration to the US.
“The leaders we’re targeting have carried out heinous acts, from controlling drug routes to arms trafficking, money laundering, and murder,” Yellen said. “Our sanctions will cut off the cartel leaders from their ill-gotten money and make it harder for them to bring deadly fentanyl to our streets.”
One of the leaders targeted is Uriel Tabares Martinez, also known as “El Medico” for his brutal methods of torture and assassination. The cartel is notorious for its violent tactics and has staged videos to falsely claim asylum in the US, forcing participants to pay the cartel for these false claims.
La Nueva Familia Michoacana has been implicated in gruesome acts of violence, including the discovery of a severed human leg hanging from a pedestrian bridge in Toluca last year. The group also manufactured “rainbow” fentanyl pills aimed at children, which led to previous US sanctions against its leaders.
In addition to the sanctions, the US Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network released guidelines to help financial institutions identify transactions related to the illicit fentanyl supply chain. These measures aim to disrupt the financial flows supporting the cartel’s activities.
“The opioid crisis, especially the rise of synthetic opioids like fentanyl, has devastated communities and claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of Americans,” Yellen stated. “Treasury has unique capabilities and expertise to target the financial flows of these cartels who are poisoning our communities, and going after them is a top priority for me and the Department.”
This announcement comes after President Joe Biden signed the FEND Off Fentanyl Act into law, declaring international trafficking of fentanyl a national emergency. The act is part of a broader effort to address the deadly impact of fentanyl, the most lethal drug in the US today, with overdose deaths increasing more than sevenfold from 2015 to 2021 according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The Drug Enforcement Administration notes that nearly all precursor chemicals for fentanyl come from China, while Mexico and China are the primary sources of fentanyl trafficked into the US. These sanctions aim to disrupt the operations of La Nueva Familia Michoacana and curb the flow of fentanyl and other illicit drugs into the country.
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