U.S. sanctions 3 brothers accused of fentanyl, fuel trafficking for Mexican cartel
May 2 (UPI) -- The United States is sanctioning three Mexican brothers and two Mexico-based companies linked to the Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacion drug cartel on accusations of fentanyl and fuel trafficking.
The departments of State and Treasury announced the sanctions Thursday, accusing the individuals and companies of generating hundreds of millions of dollars a year for the CJNG through drug trafficking, fuel theft and smuggling crude oil from Mexico across the U.S. southwest border.
"Fuel theft and crude oil smuggling are cash cows for CJNG's narco-terrorist enterprise, providing a lucrative revenue stream for the group and enabling it to wreak havoc in Mexico and the United States," Treasury Secretary Scott Bassent said in a statement.
The Treasury sanctioned Cesar Morfin Morfin, 37, for being an alleged CJNG cell leader and his two bothers Alvaro Noe Morfin Morfin, 47, and Remigio Morfin Morfin, 33.
Cesar, who is also known as "Priminto," is accused of being involved in the transportation, importation and distribution of narcotics, including fentanyl, into the United States. Treasury officials said his network has recently focused on stolen-fuel-related activities, including smuggling it into the United States, due to its high profit margins.
His older and younger brothers were sanctioned for being considered his partners. The Treasury said Alvaro Noe is involved in narcotics smuggling and Cesar's stolen-fuel business, while Remigio oversees plaza bosses, supplies Cesar with stolen fuel and engages in drug trafficking.
The two companies blacklisted were hazardous materials transportation companies that operate either directly or indirectly for Cesar, engaging in fuel and oil transportation between Mexico and the United States.
"The United States remains committed to protecting our nation and the American people by keeping poisonous drugs like fentanyl off our streets and disrupting the revenue streams profiting Mexico-based FTOs and SDGTs like CJNG," State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce in a statement, referring to the acronyms for foreign terrorist organization and specially designated global terrorist.
The United States has repeatedly sanctioned CJNG under both the previous Biden administration and the current Trump administration, with the latter designating it as a foreign terrorist organization and a specially designated global terrorist in February.
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County officials have urged residents interested in using earthen or other natural materials to go to the one-stop permitting centers it has opened in the aftermath of the fires, or reach out to the Public Works Department directly for assistance. But the underlying process for reviewing and approving rebuilds using alternative materials has not changed following the fires. What residents who want to rebuild with materials like adobe are left with is, largely, confusion. On a warm day in late May, Marialyce Pedersen — a sustainable materials management professional who has been advocating for building with nature-based materials for more than two decades — was trying to decide on what would eventually rise from the rubble of what was once her three-bedroom, nearly century-old home in Altadena. Pedersen broke down her options while sitting on a pinkish firepit and curved bench made from cob. The firepit that incorporated clay dug from the Altadena foothills and straw from a local feed store is one of the few elements of the home that survived the Eaton blaze. Pedersen had connected with Loescher, the architect, and was getting fired up about the possibility of rebuilding with adobe. Then he conveyed the not-so-promising signals he got from L.A. County. 'I was like, 'OK, I want to do something pioneering and innovative and amazing, but I also really do need to rebuild my house.'' Pedersen said, 'And I can't be messing around with something.' She changed course and will now be going with a construction method known as straw bale, which typically entails stacking bales of straw to form walls that are coated with plaster. When densely packed, straw has proven resistant to flames — depriving fire of oxygen needed to thrive. Some liken it to a thick phone book. Unlike materials like cob, straw bale is adopted in the California residential building code. That means using it doesn't trigger the need for the alternative approval process. Dente's Verdant Structural Engineers was involved with getting straw bale approved as a building material and — along with advocates like Loescher — is pushing for the adoption of more nature-based materials into the code. The issue is urgency. Dente believes a fully updated code is likely 20 years — and millions of dollars in materials testing — away. 'Which we are doing and don't want to shy away from, but we're in a climate crisis right now,' he said. Bumps in the road have already emerged. California earlier this year rejected citizen-led proposals to adopt cob, hemp-lime and light straw clay in its code, and recently rejected a petition to reconsider. That's why he and Loescher are focused on navigating Los Angeles County's process for considering alternative materials. If they crack it, it could offer a pathway now. Ben Stapleton — an appointee on Horvath's blue ribbon commission and executive director of U.S. Green Building Council California, a nonprofit that promotes sustainable building practices — pointed to a statistic that buildings represent nearly 40% of greenhouse gas emissions globally. Earthen and other natural materials emit relatively less greenhouse gases over their lifecycle, from extraction and transportation to assembly and disposal. Some, such as hempcrete — made by mixing the inner woody core of the hemp plant and a lime-based binder — are carbon sinks. They improve a home's insulation and energy efficiency, he added. Still, the commission did not recommend widespread use of the materials in post-fire rebuilding. 'There's a lot of strong arguments for using these materials,' Stapleton said. 'I just don't think the market is ready to deliver homes [constructed with these materials] at scale, especially in a situation like this.' He believes there first needs to be increased education among architects, engineers and permitting officials about them. The relative lack of familiarity with the materials could add challenges or slow down the rebuilding process, he suggested — which would be problematic given the urgency and dramatic scope of the effort. Karen Bagnard's late-1940s stucco home was incinerated — along with a lifetime of artwork she created, which featured mermaids and other fantastical beings — by the Eaton fire. Her two daughters, who are leading the rebuild, initially seemed firm in their preference for a home made of conventional materials. Bagnard, 80, wasn't convinced. Natural building seemed wise to her. Shrinking one's carbon footprint made sense. And then there were the potential ills of a conventional approach, like fumes spewed by laminate flooring. But she figured her daughters (and grandson) would live in the home for longer than her. She was torn but inclined to follow their wishes. Last Sunday, though, the family took a second tour of an adobe home in South Pasadena. It appeared to sway Bagnard's kids' hearts. On Monday, Bagnard emailed to say it looked like her family would be moving forward with adobe after all.
