Treasury Dept. Sanctions 3 Persons For Trafficking Fentanyl Into US - Statement

The Department of the Treasury on Monday issued a statement that it has sanctioned three individuals for trafficking fentanyl and other synthetic drugs into the United States

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 30th January, 2023) The Department of the Treasury on Monday issued a statement that it has sanctioned three individuals for trafficking fentanyl and other synthetic drugs into the United States.

"Today, the Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated the leader of a Mexico-based network and two associates pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 14059 for procuring precursor chemicals to manufacture and traffic illicit fentanyl and other synthetic drugs to the United States," the statement said.

The sanctioned leader Jose Angel Rivera Zazueta's network operates on a global scale with nodes in the United States, Mexico, South and Central America, Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia, the release said.

Rivera Zazueta imports precursor chemicals from China into Mexico, which are then used to manufacture synthetic drugs, including fentanyl, ecstasy, crystal methamphetamine, 2C-B and ketamine, the statement said.

The Treasury Department also designated two of Rivera Zanueta's associates - Nelton Santiso Aguila from Mexico and Jason Antonio Yang Lopez from Guatemala - for aiding in the procurement and importation of fentanyl precursor chemicals into Mexico for manufacturing and further distributing the final product in the United States, the statement said.

"Illicit fentanyl has led to unprecedented overdose deaths in the United States, with a majority of these drugs flowing from Mexican cartels, including the Sinaloa cartel, using precursor chemicals from East Asia," the statement said.

All property and interests in property of the three designated individuals that are in the United States or in the possession or control of US persons must be blocked, the statement added.