Treasury Department sanctions Mexican drug trafficking group members
The Treasury Department has sanctioned two high-ranking members of the Mexican drug trafficking group Cartel del Noreste (CDN), a transnational group formerly known as Los Zetas.
The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) imposed the sanctions on Wednesday on the two members of CDN, which is designated as a terrorist organization by the United States government.
The U.S. has sanctioned Miguel Angel de Anda Ledezma, who officials say resides in the border city Nuevo Laredo across the Rio Grande from Texas. The Treasury Department said De Anda oversees the procurement of ammunition and guns for CDN, along with being in charge of payments to straw purchasers and facilitators in the U.S.
OFAC also slapped sanctions on Ricardo Gonzalez Sauceda, who officials said also lives in the Mexican state Tamaulipas. He was the second-in-command of CDN before he was arrested by Mexican law enforcement in February, according to the Treasury Department. Gonzalez was chief of an armed enforcement wing of the cartel, benefiting from trafficked firearms used in attacks on the Mexican military and police, the Treasury Department said.
'In working toward the total elimination of cartels to Make America Safe Again, the Trump Administration will hold these terrorists accountable for their criminal activities and abhorrent acts of violence,' Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement.
'CDN and its leaders have carried out a violent campaign of intimidation, kidnapping, and terrorism, threatening communities on both sides of our southern border,' Bessent added. 'We will continue to cut off the cartels' ability to obtain the drugs, money, and guns that enable their violent activities.'
CDN was one of eight cartels and transnational organizations the Trump administration designated as terrorist groups earlier this year, along with other organizations the federal government has targeted such as Tren de Aragua (TdA) and MS-13.
The State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said on Wednesday that CDN 'uses violence to exert its criminal control and intimidate border communities and U.S. citizens, particularly in northeastern Mexico.'
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