Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is sanctioning five Colombian nationals and two Mexico-based businesses pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 14059, “Imposing Sanctions on Foreign Persons Involved in the Global Illicit Drug Trade.” The Colombian individuals sanctioned today are leaders within Colombia’s Clan del Golfo (CDG)-also known as Los Urabeños-which is one of the country’s largest drug trafficking organizations and a key contributor to human smuggling through the Darién Gap. The companies sanctioned today are located in Mexico and owned by designated Sinaloa Cartel fentanyl traffickers. One of the most notorious and pervasive drug trafficking organizations in the world, the Sinaloa Cartel is responsible for a significant portion of the illicit fentanyl and other deadly drugs trafficked into the United States.
“President Biden and Vice President Harris are committed to using every tool at our disposal to combat the cartels that are poisoning our communities with fentanyl and other deadly drugs,” said Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo. “This action also targets the ability of criminal organizations like the Colombia-based CDG to operate migrant smuggling networks northwards through the Darién Gap and to America’s southern border. Treasury will remain relentless in disrupting the financing that fuels illicit fentanyl trafficking, including the business ventures that line the pockets of Sinaloa Cartel members.”
Today’s Colombia-based sanctions are the result of collaboration with the Colombian National Police and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). The Government of Mexico, including La Unidad de Inteligencia Financiera, Mexico’s Financial Intelligence Unit, coordinated with the United States on the Mexico-based action. For decades, OFAC has coordinated with Colombian and Mexican authorities to address narcotics trafficking, including through sanctioning cartels and their networks. OFAC Acting Director Lisa Palluconi’s visit to Colombia and Mexico this week will further strengthen Treasury’s regional ties, promote sanctions compliance, and safeguard the financial system from the proceeds of illicit drugs.
Treasury plays a leading role in countering the trafficking of fentanyl and other illicit drugs as part of President Biden’s Unity Agenda, leveraging its expertise to fight illicit financing and financial crimes to disrupt the flows of money that criminal organizations rely on to operate. Over the past two years, Treasury has sanctioned more than 350 targets for involvement in drug trafficking activities at all stages of the supply chain, from major cartel leaders to under-the-radar labs, transportation networks, and chemical suppliers. Last year, Secretary Yellen launched the Counter-Fentanyl Strike Force, which brings together Treasury’s expertise and resources in fighting financial crime, led by the Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence (TFI) and IRS Criminal Investigation (CI). Secretary Yellen has also engaged with international partners to combat fentanyl trafficking, including during her travel to Mexico last year. In April, Secretary Yellen also announced the launch of an exchange with the People’s Republic of China to enhance cooperating in combatting money laundering associated with drug trafficking and other crime.
COLOMBIA: CLAN DEL GOLFO (a.k.a. “LOS URABEÑOS”)
The President identified CDG, also known as Los Urabeños, as a significant foreign narcotics trafficker pursuant to the Kingpin Act on May 31, 2013 and in December 2021, OFAC designated CDG pursuant to E.O. 14059. CDG relies on drug trafficking activities and a military-style framework to maintain operability, with its power base located in its birthplace region of Uraba in northwest Colombia. From this strategic location, CDG sends multi-ton quantities of cocaine via maritime conveyances to Panama, Mexico, and other countries in Central America on a regular basis.
In August 2023, a federal grand jury in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida returned an indictment charging Jose Miguel Demoya Hernandez (Demoya Hernandez) with cocaine trafficking with intent to distribute to the United States. Demoya Hernandez, who remains a fugitive from U.S. charges, is also wanted by the Colombian government for his involvement in CDG. Considered the top financial chief for CDG, Alexander Celis Durango (Celis Durango), was indicted in March 2021 by a federal grand jury in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas for cocaine trafficking. Celis Durango was arrested by Colombian authorities in 2023 and is currently pending extradition to the United States.
OFAC is sanctioning Demoya Hernandez and Celis Durango pursuant to E.O. 14059 for having engaged in, or attempted to engage in, activities or transactions that have materially contributed to, or pose a significant risk of materially contributing to, the international proliferation of illicit drugs or their means of production.
OFAC is also sanctioning Jose Gonzalo Sanchez Sanchez (Sanchez Sanchez), considered to be second-in-command within CDG.
Additionally, OFAC is sanctioning Jose Emilson Cordoba Quinto (Cordoba Quinto) and Wilder de Jesus Alcaraz Morales (Alcaraz Morales), who are responsible for the control of migrant flows through the Darién Gap, as well as for the transport of drugs through CDG’s territory. Colombian authorities are offering a reward of 50 million Colombian pesos for the capture of Cordoba Quinto and Alcaraz Morales. Separately, the U.S. Department of State has issued a reward under the Transnational Organized Crime Rewards Program for information related to key CDG leaders involved in human smuggling in the Darién Region between Colombia and Panama. In addition to drug trafficking, CDG is involved in the transport of migrants and weapons through the Darién Gap, a nature barrier of 5,750 square kilometers of tropical jungle that separates Central America from South America.
OFAC is sanctioning Cordoba Quinto, Alcaraz Morales, Sanchez Sanchez pursuant to E.O. 14059 for being owned, controlled, or directed by, or having acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, CDG.
MEXICO: OSTENSIBLY-LEGITIMATE BUSINESS INVESTMENTS
Sinaloa Cartel members frequently utilize the proceeds of international drug trafficking to establish businesses, which-apart from the initial investment of illicit proceeds-can otherwise appear to operate legitimately. For example, Culiacan, Sinaloa, Mexico-based drug traffickers and spouses, Jesus Norberto Larranaga Herrera (“El 30”) and Karla Gabriela Lizarraga Sanchez-who were designated in March 2024 pursuant to E.O. 14059-established Nieves y Paletas EVI utilizing drug proceeds, including those derived from the sale of illicit fentanyl. Operating as a frozen dessert business, Nieves y Paletas EVI maintains several storefront locations in Culiacan and the surrounding municipalities, such as Pueblos Unidos and Tacuichamona. Similarly, Farmacia y Mini Super Trinidad, a retail pharmacy and supermarket in Nogales, Sonora, is owned, controlled, or directed by Nogales-based drug trafficker, Jose Arnoldo Morgan Huerta (“Chachio”), who was designated in November 2023 pursuant to E.O. 14059. Jose Arnoldo Morgan Huerta is a sibling of Juan Carlos Morgan Huerta (“Cacayo”), who was also designated in November 2023. As a Sinaloa Cartel “plaza boss,” Juan Carlos Morgan Huerta manages cartel operations in Nogales and oversees the trafficking of multi-ton quantities of drugs-to include cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, and illicit fentanyl-from Mexico into the United States. In April 2021, Juan Carlos Morgan Huerta was indicted in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on various drug trafficking charges linked to fentanyl, cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine. To date, he is a fugitive.
Today, OFAC is sanctioning Nieves y Paletas EVI for being owned, controlled, or directed by, or having acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, Jesus Norberto Larranaga Herrera and Karla Gabriela Lizarraga Sanchez; and is sanctioning Farmacia y Mini Super Trinidad for being owned, controlled, or directed by, or having acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, Jose Arnoldo Morgan Huerta. Each of these three individuals were previously sanctioned pursuant to E.O. 14059.
OFAC coordinated these Mexico-based actions with the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Tucson – Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force, the DEA Phoenix Field Division’s Drug Enforcement Administration Local Enforcement Response Squad, the DEA Phoenix Scottsdale Task Force, the DEA Nogales District Office Group 51, the Homeland Security Investigations’ Tucson Office, and the Pima County Sheriff’s Department.
SANCTIONS IMPLICATIONS
As a result of today’s action, all property and interests in property of the designated persons described above that are in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons are blocked and must be reported to OFAC. In addition, any entities that are owned, directly or indirectly, individually or in the aggregate, 50 percent or more by one or more blocked persons are also blocked. Unless authorized by a general or specific license issued by OFAC, or exempt, OFAC’s regulations generally prohibit all transactions by U.S. persons or within (or transiting) the United States that involve any property or interests in property of designated or otherwise blocked persons. U.S. persons may face civil or criminal penalties for violations of E.O. 14059 and the Kingpin Act. Non-U.S. persons are also prohibited from causing or conspiring to cause U.S. persons to wittingly or unwittingly violate U.S. sanctions, as well as engaging in conduct that evades U.S. sanctions. OFAC’s Economic Sanctions Enforcement Guidelines provide more information regarding OFAC’s enforcement of U.S. sanctions, including the factors that OFAC generally considers when determining an appropriate response to an apparent violation.
Today’s action is part of a whole-of-government effort to counter the global threat posed by the trafficking of illicit drugs into the United States that is causing the deaths of tens of thousands of Americans annually, as well as countless more non-fatal overdoses. This action also builds on a recent FinCEN supplemental advisory to U.S. financial institutions on new trends, typologies, and red flag indicators associated with the illicit fentanyl supply chain and the illicit procurement of fentanyl precursor chemicals and manufacturing equipment by Mexico-based transnational criminal organizations. OFAC, in coordination with its U.S. government partners and foreign counterparts, and in support of the Biden-Harris Administration’s Unity Agenda, will continue to hold accountable those individuals and businesses involved in the manufacturing and sale of illicit drugs.