Guerrero, Mexico; Michoacan, Mexico

Today, alongside law enforcement leaders in Atlanta, Georgia, Secretary Yellen announced that the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has sanctioned eight Mexico-based targets affiliated with La Nueva Familia Michoacana drug cartel for trafficking fentanyl, cocaine, and methamphetamine into the United States. In addition to narcotics trafficking, La Nueva Familia Michoacana smuggles migrants from Mexico into the United States. La Nueva Familia Michoacana is one of the most powerful and violent cartels in Mexico and has become a priority focus of the Mexican government in recent years. Historically, La Nueva Familia Michoacana trafficked mostly methamphetamine. However, in recent years, it has expanded into fentanyl trafficking, obtaining the necessary precursor chemicals, purchasing critical pill press machines, and then producing fentanyl in throughout Mexico, including in Mexico City, Pineda, Santa Teresa, Ciudad Altamirano, Tejupilco, Arcelia, Cuernavaca, Culiacan, Guadalajara, and Toluca, Mexico. La Nueva Familia Michoacana sends fentanyl and other drugs to the United States through Nuevo Laredo and Tamaulipas/Reynosa across the southern Texas border via buses, among other modes of transportation. Once the drugs are in the United States, the drugs are then sent to multiple cities across the United States, including Atlanta, Houston, Dallas, Tulsa, Chicago, and Charlotte. La Nueva Familia Michoacana is also involved in human smuggling. For instance, La Nueva Familia Michoacana members stage photos and videos in which individuals appear under interrogation or at risk of being murdered. With these photos or videos in hand, the individuals will then falsely claim to United States immigration officials their purported need to seek asylum in the United States. In return for this service, the individuals pay La Nueva Familia Michoacana money. Separately, La Nueva Familia Michoacana is also known for forcing individuals to enter the United States illegally with drugs for the purpose of selling narcotics in the United States. If the individuals do not comply with the order to sell the drugs provided by La Nueva Familia Michoacana, they are informed that they and their families will be killed. La Nueva Familia Michoacana also uses workers in the tobacco industry to smuggle narcotics into the United States.

https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy2418

2022-11-17

US

Global Terrorism Sanctions Regulations, 31 C.F.R. part 594

OFAC-horizontal

Terrorism

Blocking Property

• https://ofac.treasury.gov/faqs/topic/2396

On June 6, 2003, OFAC issued the Global Terrorism Sanctions Regulations, 31 CFR part 594 (68 FR 34196, June 6, 2003 (“the Regulations”), to implement Executive Order (E.O.) 13224 of September 23, 2001, “Blocking Property and Prohibiting Transactions With Persons Who Commit, Threaten To Commit, or Support Terrorism” (66 FR 49079, September 25, 2001). OFAC has amended the Regulations on several occasions. On September 9, 2019, the President, invoking the authority of, inter alia, the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701–1706) (IEEPA) and the United Nations Participation Act (22 U.S.C. 287c) (UNPA), issued E.O. 13886, “Modernizing Sanctions To Combat Terrorism” (84 FR 48041, September 12, 2019), effective September 10, 2019. In E.O. 13886, the President, finding it necessary to consolidate and enhance sanctions to combat acts of terrorism and threats of terrorism by foreign terrorists, terminated the national emergency declared in E.O. 12947 of January 23, 1995, “Prohibiting Transactions With Terrorists Who Threaten To Disrupt the Middle East Peace Process” (60 FR 5079, January 25, 1995), and revoked E.O. 12947, as amended by E.O. 13099 of August 20, 1998, “Prohibiting Transactions With Terrorists Who Threaten To Disrupt the Middle East Peace Process” (63 FR 45167, August 25, 1998). In addition, the President amended E.O. 13224, in order to build upon initial steps taken in E.O. 12947, to further strengthen and consolidate sanctions to combat the continuing threat posed by international terrorism, and in order to take additional steps to deal with the national emergency declared in E.O. 13224, with respect to the continuing and immediate threat of grave acts of terrorism and threats of terrorism committed by foreign terrorists, which include acts of terrorism that threaten the Middle East peace process. Section 1 of E.O. 13886 replaces in its entirety section 1 of E.O. 13224, which had been amended by a number of prior Executive orders (E.O. 13224, as amended by all such authorities, is referred to herein as “amended E.O. 13224”), but does not amend the Annex to E.O. 13224, which was previously amended by E.O. 13268 of July 2, 2002, “Termination of Emergency With Respect to the Taliban and Amendment of Executive Order 13224 of September 23, 2001” (67 FR 44751, July 3, 2002) (“amended Annex to E.O. 13224”).

SDN