US slaps sanctions on two key operatives of Mexican cartel

Source:Xinhua Published: 2013-1-10 11:15:28

The US Treasury Department announced on Wednesday that it is slapping sanctions on two key operatives of the Sinaloa Cartel, a drug-trafficking syndicate from northwestern Mexico.

The department designates top Sinaloa Cartel member Damaso Lopez Nunez and Ines Coronel Barreras, the father-in-law of Sinaloa drug lord Joaquin "Chapo" Guzman Loera, for their roles in drug-trafficking, according to a statement released by the department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).

The designation prohibits Americans from conducting business transactions with these two individuals, and also freezes any assets they may have under US jurisdiction.

"Today, OFAC designated Chapo Guzman's right-hand man and his father-in-law," said OFAC Director Adam Szubin in the statement. " Working with our federal law enforcement partners, we will continue to go after the Sinaloa Cartel's holdings and support structure, wherever they are located."

Sinaloa Cartel is a drug-trafficking and organized crime syndicate based in the city of Culiacan, Sinaloa, in northwestern Mexico.

The US government has previously designated head of Sinaloa Cartel Joaquin Guzman Loera and the cartel itself as significant foreign narcotics traffickers in 2001 and 2009 respectively, according to the Treasury.

Posted in: Americas

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