WASHINGTON-Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned more than a dozen individuals and entities, comprising two distinct networks, linked to the terrorist Sinaloa Cartel and its fentanyl trafficking activities.
Armando de Jesus Ojeda Aviles (Ojeda Aviles) leads a network involved in laundering the proceeds of fentanyl and other narcotics trafficking activities on behalf of the Sinaloa Cartel. Jesus Gonzalez Penuelas (Gonzalez Penuelas), a fugitive from justice, heads a longstanding organization involved in trafficking illicit drugs into the United States and laundering funds for the Sinaloa Cartel. The violent Sinaloa Cartel is a U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) responsible for a significant portion of the illicit fentanyl trafficked into the United States that kills tens of thousands of Americans each year.
“As President Trump has made clear, this Administration will not allow narco-terrorists to flood our borders with poison,” said Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent. “Treasury will continue to target terrorist cartels and their fentanyl trafficking networks to protect our communities and Keep America Safe.”
Today’s action reflects the culmination of a coordinated Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF)-led investigation involving the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). OFAC works in close coordination with the HSTFs, which target the proliferation of illicit drugs and the networks, enablers, and financial mechanisms that support their production and distribution. These sanctions were further coordinated with the Government of Mexico’s financial intelligence unit, the Unidad de Inteligencia Financiera.
OFAC sanctioned the persons in this action pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 14059, which targets the proliferation of illicit drugs and their means of production, and pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended, which targets terrorists and their supporters.