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Mexico City, June 1, 2007 – “President Bush identified six individuals and organizations (three with a direct tie to Mexico) as ‘Drug Kingpins’ today, triggering the provisions of the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act that allow the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control to use financial sanctions against them, their key associates, and front companies. Two of the individuals and one organization named by President Bush are responsible for much of the drug-related violence and corruption currently plaguing Mexico.
“Victor Emilio Cazarez Salazar leads a sophisticated drug trafficking network, based in Culiacan, Sinaloa. He works with traffickers throughout Latin America to move significant amounts of narcotics across the U.S.-Mexico border. In February 2007, a U.S. federal court in California indicted Cazarez Salazar for drug trafficking and money laundering.
“Jorge Mario Paredes Cordova controls a major cocaine-trafficking syndicate which operates in Guatemala and Mexico. Indicted by a U.S. federal court in New York for drug trafficking in August 2003, this drug kingpin from Guatemala has ties to criminal organizations in Mexico and throughout Central America. The U.S. Department of State is offering a US $5 million reward for information leading to his arrest and conviction.
“The Gulf Cartel is responsible for more violence and corruption – and has destroyed the lives of more ordinary Mexicans – than any other narcotics trafficking organization operating here. Gulf Cartel leaders use a highly-trained group of enforcers, known by the moniker “Los Zetas,” to control the movement of drugs across the U.S.-Mexico border. Their organization dominates a significant portion of the cross-border trade in illegal narcotics, even though its leader, Osiel Cardenas Guillen, was extradited to the United States in January 2007. Osiel Cardenas Guillen was previously named a drug kingpin by President Bush pursuant to the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act on May 31, 2001.”
President Bush’s Statement and a web link detailing more information about drug kingpins and U.S. law appear below.
For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
June 1, 2007 Presidential Designation of Foreign Narcotics Kingpins STATEMENT BY THE PRESS SECRETARY Presidential Designation of Foreign Narcotics Kingpins Today the President designated five foreign individuals and one foreign entity in the eighth annual set of determinations of drug traffickers who will be subject to the sanctions provided in the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act ("Kingpin Act"). This action brings the total number of individuals and entities designated under the Kingpin Act to 68 since the first designations were made in 2000. This action underscores the President's determination to do everything possible to pursue drug traffickers, undermine their operations, and end the suffering that trade in illicit drugs inflicts on Americans and other people around the world, as well as preventing drug traffickers from supporting terrorists. The Kingpin Act, which became law in December 1999, targets significant foreign narcotics traffickers, their organizations, and operatives worldwide, denying them access to the U.S. financial system and all trade and transactions involving U.S. companies and individuals. The Kingpin Act does not target the countries in which these foreign individuals and entities are operating or the governments of such countries. The additional foreign individuals and entities the President has designated this year as appropriate for sanctions under the Kingpin Act are: - Victor Emilio Cazarez Salazar (Mexico)
- Gulf Cartel (Mexico)
- Jorge Mario Paredes Cordova (Guatemala)
- Haj Azizullah Alizai (Afghanistan)
- Shahbaz Khan (Pakistan)
- Frederik Heinz Barth (Germany)
The initial list of drug kingpins was released in June 2000; the above names will be added to that list. # # # http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/06/20070601-23.html |
