US imposes sanctions on top members of the armed wing of…

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. on Thursday imposed sanctions on senior members of the armed wing of a Mexican drug cartel operating in border areas in and around Chihuahua, Mexico.

Five Mexican citizens and two companies linked to La Linea, a violent drug trafficking organization from Mexico that smuggles fentanyl and other synthetic drugs into the US on behalf of the transnational Juarez Cartel, were hit with economic sanctions on Thursday.

The latest action is intended to prevent a major source of fentanyl from entering the US; the powerful opioid is currently the deadliest drug in the US. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states that drug overdose deaths occur in the US increased more than sevenfold between 2015 and 2021, although the agency reported a 3% decline in drug overdose deaths this year.

Over the past two years, the Treasury Department has imposed sanctions on more than 350 people and companies involved in drug trafficking, from cartel leaders to laboratories and suppliers.

According to the Drug Enforcement Administration, which is charged with combating the illegal drug trade, Mexico and China are the top sources of fentanyl and fentanyl-related substances smuggled directly into the US. Nearly all the precursor chemicals needed to make fentanyl come from China.

La Linea and the Juarez Cartel are known for inflicting violence on innocent people, and US authorities have sought to prosecute them – in July 2022, a federal judge in North Dakota said Ordered La Linea to pay $4.6 billion in monetary damages to the families of nine Americans killed in an ambush in northern Mexico on November 4, 2019.

Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo said in a statement Thursday that “if La Linea continues to directly contribute to the spread of deadly fentanyl in our communities, the Department of Treasury will continue to use every tool in our arsenal to address their criminal activities. ”

The Biden administration has taken a slew of actions against fentanyl traffickers – accuse powerful human traffickers with drug and money laundering offenses and announcements charges and sanctions on Chinese companies and executives blamed for importing the chemicals used to make the dangerous drug.

In December 2023, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen launched a Counter-Fentanyl Strike Force that brings together personnel and intelligence from across the Treasury Department – ​​from the sanctions and intelligence community to the IRS Criminal Investigations – to work together more effectively to stop the flow of medicines into the country.

And President Joe Biden signed the bipartisan bill into law REPLY the Fentanyl Bill as part of the additional spending package signed in April that, among other things, declares the international trade in fentanyl a national emergency.

The fight against fentanyl has increasingly become a political issue. Republicans say the smuggling of fentanyl across the U.S.-Mexico border should be viewed alongside migration issues, which are a central issue in the 2024 presidential election.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump does blamed on migrants for trading medications such as fentanyleven as federal data suggests that many people smuggling fentanyl across the border are U.S. citizens.