Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned Yulan Adonay Archaga Carias a.k.a. “Alexander Mendoza” a.k.a. “Porky,” an MS-13 gang leader based in Honduras, and David Elias Campbell Licona a.k.a. “Jorge Eduardo Perez Paz,” an MS-13 associate based in Nicaragua, pursuant to transnational criminal organization authorities. Both individuals are heavily involved in drug trafficking, violence, murder, extortion, and money laundering. Yulan Adonay Archaga Carias (Archaga Carias) is a leader of MS-13 in Honduras who has led MS-13 drug trafficking operations that included processing, receiving, transporting, and distributing multi-ton loads of cocaine through Honduras to the United States, and he has ordered the murders of rival gang members and others associated with MS-13. Archaga Carias contracted out members of MS-13 as “sicarios,” or assassins, to other drug trafficking organizations (DTOs) for payment. In that role, members of MS-13 committed numerous murders for hire for DTOs trafficking cocaine through Honduras to the United States. Archaga Carias also supplied other DTOs with firearms, including machine guns, that were received from El Salvador, Nicaragua, and elsewhere. Archaga Carias is a fugitive from U.S. and Honduran law enforcement. Archaga Carias has escaped from prison in Honduras; his escape involved a group of over 20 men who may or may not have been actual officers wearing Honduran military and National Anti-Gang Force uniforms carrying assault weapons. The group succeeded in violently rescuing him from the courthouse in El Progreso, Honduras, leaving at least five dead (including police officers) at the site. A federal grand jury in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York indicted Archaga Carias in 2021 for various conspiracy charges including racketeering, cocaine importation, murder, and possession of machine guns.
OFAC designated Archaga Carias pursuant to E.O. 13581, as amended by E.O. 13863, for having acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, MS-13.
Transnational Criminal Organizations Sanctions Regulations, 31 C.F.R. part 590;
Executive Order 13581 of July 24, 2011 Blocking Property of Transnational Criminal Organizations
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Official Information
On January 12, 2012, OFAC issued the Transnational Criminal Organizations Sanctions Regulations, 31 CFR part 590 (77 FR 1864, January 12, 2012) (the “Regulations”), to implement Executive Order (E.O.) 13581 of July 24, 2011, “Blocking Property of Transnational Criminal Organizations” (76 FR 44757, July 27, 2011), pursuant to authorities delegated to the Secretary of the Treasury in E.O. 13581. The Regulations were initially issued in abbreviated form for the purpose of providing immediate guidance to the public. OFAC amended the Regulations on July 23, 2019 (84 FR 35307, July 23, 2019) to implement E.O. 13863 of March 15, 2019, “Taking Additional Steps to Address the National Emergency With Respect to Significant Transnational Criminal Organizations” (84 FR 10255, March 19, 2019), which amended E.O. 13581. OFAC is amending and reissuing the Regulations as a more comprehensive set of regulations that includes additional interpretive guidance and definitions, general licenses, and other regulatory provisions that will provide further guidance to the public. Due to the number of regulatory sections being updated or added, OFAC is reissuing the Regulations in their entirety.
E.O. 13581 On July 24, 2011, the President, invoking the authority of, inter alia, the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) (IEEPA), issued E.O. 13581. In E.O. 13581, the President found that the activities of significant transnational criminal organizations, such as those listed in the Annex to E.O. 13581, have reached such scope and gravity that they threaten the stability of international political and economic systems. The President further found that such organizations are becoming increasingly sophisticated and dangerous to the United States; they are increasingly entrenched in the operations of foreign governments and the international financial system, thereby weakening democratic institutions, degrading the rule of law, and undermining economic markets. The President stated these organizations facilitate and aggravate violent civil conflicts and increasingly facilitate the activities of other dangerous persons. The President determined that the activities of significant transnational criminal organizations constitute an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States and declared a national emergency to deal with that threat.
