The La Nueva Familia Michoacana cartel also smuggles migrants across the border. US authorities tighten their security measures.
The Secretary of the United States Department of the Treasury, Janet Yellenannounced this Thursday new sanctions against leaders of a Mexican drug cartel involved in the fentanyl trafficking and its chemical precursors, as part of a broader initiative to try to stem the flow of the synthetic opioid.
The sanctions are against eight leaders and eight entities of the La Nueva Familia Michoacana cartelas reported by the official during a trip to Georgia, a key state in the US presidential elections on November 5.
In addition to fentanyl, Treasury said the criminal group traffic cocaine and methamphetamines to the US and smuggles migrants across the southern border.
This is why Yellen also asked for a greater cooperation with Mexico to stop trafficking in fentanyl and its chemical precursors, and announced that President Joe Biden’s administration would emphasize this in his conversations with the elected president of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum.
The US will increase security measures in banks
The Treasury Secretary also announced a new additional warning to banks on the part of the Treasury Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) to help them identify and report suspicious transactions linked to the acquisition of fentanyl precursor chemicals and Chinese-made equipment by criminal organizations in Mexico.
The notification of this type of transactions will help the entity and associated organizations to keep track of traffickers, explained Yellen, who described this measure as a “important step” in the fight against fentanyl and other synthetic opioids.
“This allows us to follow the money trail behind the illicit fentanyl supply chain and pursue criminals who are perpetrating and profiting from the opioid epidemic,” Yellen said at the Richard B. Russell Federal Building in Atlanta. .
Source: Ambito
