WASHINGTON (AP) — In Atlanta to further the Biden administration’s efforts to suppress the importation of illegal drugs into the U.S., Treasury Secretary Janet Jellen has announced new sanctions against members of a Mexican drug cartel accused of trafficking fentanyl, cocaine, meth and migrants through the southern border.
Included in the sanctions are eight members of the La Nueva Familia Michoacana drug cartel, a notoriously violent group that competes for territorial control with a slew of other Mexican cartels.
On Thursday, Yellen also issued an advisory to banks to help them identify and report suspicious transactions related to the sale and purchase of chemicals and equipment used to produce fentanyl and other synthetic opioids.
“Fighting fentanyl trafficking is a major challenge,” she said in a speech Thursday afternoon at the Richard B. Russell Federal Building in Atlanta. “It won’t be solved overnight. But let me be clear: the president and I will do everything we can to combat this crisis.”
La Nueva Familia Michoacana is one of Mexico’s most powerful drug cartels, dominating large parts of southern and central Mexico, especially areas known for drug production. It is known for the production and distribution of drugs such as fentanyl and methamphetamine. The group is among those who have quickly entered the increasingly lucrative migrant smuggling industry amid a historic wave of migration to the US.
The cartel is based in the southern state of Guerrero and is often known as “The New Michoacan Family,” to distinguish it from an older gang that was largely driven out of the western state of Michoacan in the mid-2010s.
In 2022, the Biden administration sanctioned cartel leaders known as the Hurtado brothers for manufacturing “rainbow” fentanyl pills, which the U.S. Treasury Department said were “part of a deliberate effort to end childhood addiction.” to drive’.
Yellen’s trip also comes after President Joe Biden signed the FEND off Fentanyl Act as part of the supplemental spending package signed in April, which, among other things, declares the international trade in fentanyl a national emergency.
Fentanyl, a powerful opioid, is currently the deadliest drug in the US. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says drug overdose deaths in the U.S. increased more than sevenfold between 2015 and 2021.
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.
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Janetsky contributed to this report from Mexico City.
