Current:Home > ScamsU.S. sanctions top Mexican cartel leaders, including alleged assassin known as "The Doctor"-LoTradeCoin
U.S. sanctions top Mexican cartel leaders, including alleged assassin known as "The Doctor"
View Date:2024-12-23 20:41:32
U.S. officials announced economic sanctions Thursday against eight targets affiliated with a Mexican drug cartel, La Nueva Familia Michoacana, accused of fentanyl trafficking and human smuggling.
The U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) measures are aimed at stifling a network known for sending illicit drugs from Mexico across the southern U.S. border to Dallas and Houston, as well as to other cities including Chicago and Atlanta, according to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.
"The leaders we're targeting have carried out heinous acts, from controlling drug routes, to arms trafficking, to money laundering, to murder," Yellen said, according to prepared remarks ahead of an event in Atlanta.
"Our sanctions will cut off the cartel leaders from their ill-gotten money and make it harder for them to bring deadly fentanyl to our streets."
The sanctions target leaders of the organization, as well as key lieutenants whom Treasury said had meaningfully engaged in and promoted the illicit drug trade.
Among the leaders targeted is an alleged assassin named Uriel Tabares Martinez. According to the Treasury Department, he is known as "El Medico" ("The Doctor") for the violent and surgical manner in which he tortures and kills those who cross the high-ranking members of the cartel.
The group is also known for human smuggling, with La Nueva Familia Michoacana staging videos in which participants falsely claim to be under interrogation in order to win U.S. asylum. The participants then pay money to the cartel, officials said in a statement.
"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," the Treasury Department said while announcing the sanctions.
Last year, the cartel was accused of suspected of leaving a severed human leg found hanging from a pedestrian bridge Wednesday in Toluca, just west of Mexico City. At the bridge, the trunk of the body was left on the street below, near the city's center, along with handwritten signs signed by the Familia Michoacana.
In 2022, the U.S. Treasury Department announced sanctions on the Familia Michoacana, accusing the cartel of manufacturing "rainbow" fentanyl pills purportedly aimed at children.
In addition to the OFAC actions, the U.S. Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network released an advisory of red flags and trends intended to help U.S. financial institutions detect signs of the illicit fentanyl supply chain.
"The opioid crisis, and especially the rise of synthetic opioids like fentanyl, has devastated communities and claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of Americans," Secretary Yellen said in a statement Thursday. "Treasury has unique capabilities and expertise to target the financial flows of these cartels who are poisoning our communities, and going after them is a top priority for me and the Department."
- In:
- Drug Cartels
- Sanctions
- Mexico
- Cartel
veryGood! (81)
Related
- Avril Lavigne’s Ex Mod Sun Is Dating Love Is Blind Star Brittany Wisniewski, Debuts Romance With a Kiss
- Man ordered to jail pending trial in the fatal shooting of a Chicago police officer
- This Southern Charm Star Just Announced Their Shocking Exit Ahead of Season 10
- Defense asks judge to ban the death penalty for man charged in stabbing deaths of 4 Idaho students
- Justice Department says jail conditions in Georgia’s Fulton County violate detainee rights
- Hungary’s Orbán predicts Trump’s administration will end US support for Ukraine
- Man accused of illegally killing 15-point buck then entering it into Louisiana deer hunting contest
- Zach Bryan, Brianna 'Chickenfry' LaPaglia controversy: From Golden Globes to breakup
- Multi-State Offshore Wind Pact Weakened After Connecticut Sits Out First Selection
- California air regulators to vote on contentious climate program to cut emissions
Ranking
- Katharine Hayhoe’s Post-Election Advice: Fight Fear, Embrace Hope and Work Together
- NFL Week 10 picks straight up and against spread: Steelers or Commanders in first-place battle?
- Winter storm smacks New Mexico, could dump several feet of snow
- Brianna LaPaglia says ex-boyfriend Zach Bryan offered her a $12M NDA after breakup
- GM recalls 460k cars for rear wheel lock-up: Affected models include Chevrolet, GMC, Cadillac
- Police search for missing mother who vanished in Wylie, Texas without phone or car
- Texas Democrats’ longtime chairman steps down after big losses continue for the party
- Volkswagen recalls nearly 115,000 cars for potentially exploding air bag: See list here
Recommendation
-
Just Eat Takeaway sells Grubhub for $650 million, just 3 years after buying the app for $7.3 billion
-
New York bank manager sentenced to prison for stealing over $200K from dead customer: DOJ
-
Brianna LaPaglia says ex-boyfriend Zach Bryan offered her a $12M NDA after breakup
-
Prince William Says Princess Charlotte Cried the First Time She Saw His Rugged Beard
-
5-year-old boy who went missing while parent was napping is found dead near Oregon home, officials say
-
Suspect arrested in fatal shooting of 2 workers at Chicago’s Navy Pier
-
Bookstore lover inspires readers across America | The Excerpt
-
Building muscle requires a higher protein intake. But eating too much protein isn't safe.