U.S. imposes penalties on the head of a Mexican drug cartel
The United States administration has imposed financial restrictions on eight key figures of a notorious Mexican drug ring, tagged as La Nueva Familia Michoacana, which is under suspicion for trafficking Fentanyl. This move aims to restrict the financial operations of the gang's leadership, as stated by U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen in a pre-released statement, implying that it'll make it tougher for them to import deadly Fentanyl into the U.S.
With these sanctions, the funds of the designated individuals, residing in or managed by U.S. citizens, will be blocked. Yellen described La Nueva Familia Michoacana as one of the most powerful and ruthless cartels operating in Mexico.
Earlier, the U.S. authorities had categorized this gang as a Methamphetamine trafficker, but they've apparently ramped up their operations in the Fentanyl trade in recent years. Fentanyl, an opioid, is allegedly produced in clandestine labs run by La Nueva Familia Michoacana across Mexico and shipped into the U.S. through various means, such as buses. The cartel is also assumed to be engaged in human trafficking into the U.S.
Opioids, artificial painkillers, are significantly widespread in the U.S. illegally and lead to dire health and societal consequences. Yellen cited data from the U.S. Health and Human Services Department CDC which indicates that over 74,000 individuals in the U.S. lost their lives to opioid overdoses between December 2022 and December 2023. More often than not, these deaths are due to illicitly produced Fentanyl. The reported number of overdose fatalities since 2000 surpasses a million.
Read also:
The sanctions target the leader of the La Nueva Familia Michoacana cartel, who is accused of overseeing Fentanyl smuggling into the USA. The cartel, labeled as one of the most powerful and ruthless in Mexico, is reportedly responsible for the operation of clandestine labs producing Fentanyl and human trafficking into the USA.
