WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – The U.S. Treasury Department yesterday blacklisted two Mexicans and one Colombian, accusing them of providing material support to the Sinaloa Cartel, a Mexican drug trafficking organization.
The Treasury said in a statement it had labeled Mexican nationals Agustin Reyes Garza and Hector Contreras Novoa as “specially designated narcotics traffickers” due to their support of the Sinaloa Cartel’s activities.
The action bans Americans from doing business with them and companies they control and seeks to freeze any assets they may have under U.S. jurisdiction.
The Treasury also designated Colombian national Nestor Alonso Tarazona Enciso as a drug trafficker for his ties to the Sinaloa cartel, and also blacklisted two livestock companies registered in Bogota that he owns or controls.
It said Tarazona Enciso was convicted on U.S. cocaine trafficking charges and returned to Colombia in 1995 after serving a prison sentence in the United States.
The latest additions to the Treasury’s blacklist are part of its efforts to apply financial sanctions against foreign drug traffickers under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act.
Since June 2000, the Treasury says it has imposed sanctions against more than 500 businesses and individuals associated with 82 drug kingpins, including 37 kingpins in Mexico.
