US Unveils Executive Orders To Fight Transnational Organized Crime, Illegal Drug Trade

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 16th December, 2021) The United States is unveiling two executive orders directed to combat transnational organized crime and to sanction foreigners involved in illicit drug trafficking, a US official told reporters on Wednesday.

"Countering these criminal actors and their enablers is a national security priority. That is why today we are proud to announce the release of two new Executive Orders," the official said. "One is to establish US Council on Transnational Organized Crime (USCTOC), and two - to impose sanctions on foreign persons involved in the global illicit drug trade."

Countering these criminal actors and their enablers is a national security priority, so the new council will unify leaders of several entities across the US government, including Departments of Justice, Homeland Security, State, Treasury, Defense, along with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, this official said.

"The council is in charge with ensuring that the US government deploys a comprehensive approach and effectively leverages all appropriate tools countering the threat," he added.

The second Executive Order released today creates the new sanctions authority to target foreign individuals involved in a global illicit drug trafficking through sanctions and related actions, he said.

Another official clarified that under the new executive order US Department of Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced the designations of 25 targets on Wednesday. This list includes ten individuals and fifteen entities from China, Brazil, Mexico, he added.

"With this new E.O., the US Government will be better poised to disrupt the global supply chain and financial networks that enable synthetic opioids and precursors chemicals to reach US markets and harm American communities," the White House said in a separate notice.

This new authority will allow Washington to better target and disrupt bad actors across the whole drug trafficking system and to safeguard the US financial system from use and abuse by those involved in the illicit drug trade, the notice read.