27 March 2003
Treasury Department Adds New Cali Cartel Leaders to List of Traffickers
(28 front companies and individuals linked to leaders subject to
sanctions) (560)
The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC)
announced on March 27 that new Cali cartel leaders Joaquin Mario
Valencia Trujillo and Guillermo Valencia Trujillo have been added to
its list of Specially Designated Narcotics Traffickers.
According to the March 27 Treasury Department press release, the Cali
cartel leaders, and 28 front companies and individuals linked to them,
are subject to economic sanctions imposed by a 1995 executive order
against Colombian drug cartels.
The assets of 824 Colombian drug cartel businesses and individuals are
currently blocked under the executive order, and those individuals and
businesses prohibited from American financial and business dealings,
the press release said.
Following is the text of the Treasury Department press release:
(begin text)
Department of the Treasury
March 27, 2003
Treasury Designates New Cali Cartel Leaders
The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC)
today added the names of new Cali drug cartel leaders Joaquin Mario
Valencia Trujillo and Guillermo Valencia Trujillo to its list of
Specially Designated Narcotics Traffickers (SDNTs). This action also
targets their network of 28 front companies and 28 individuals. SDNTs
are subject to the economic sanctions imposed against Colombian drug
cartels in Executive Order 12978.
The drug cartel businesses added to the list of SDNTs today are all
determined to be owned or controlled by Cali cartel leaders Joaquin
Mario and Guillermo Valencia Trujillo. OFAC has cooperated over the
past two years with the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District
of Florida and Operation Panama Express, a multi-agency drug task
force based out of Tampa, Florida, in the designation of Joaquin Mario
Valencia Trujillo and his network of front companies.
The OFAC action blocks the assets of SDNTs found in U.S. jurisdiction
and prohibits Americans from doing business with them, further
exposing, isolating, and incapacitating Colombian drug cartels and
their agents. The network of 28 Cali drug cartel businesses announced
today includes a prominent paso fino horse farm, Criadero La Luisa, an
industrial paper manufacturer, Unipapel S.A., a plastics company,
Geoplasticos S.A., a maritime services provider, Gran Muelle S.A., and
five financial firms, Compania de Fomento Mercantil S.A., Credisa
S.A., Finve S.A., Gestora Mercantil S.A., and Unidas S.A., all located
in Colombia.
Also included in the new SDNT list are several commercial paper
businesses, maritime agencies, real estate, mining, sporting and
consulting companies. These 28 front companies join 312 other
Colombian drug cartel businesses on the SDNT list.
This action is part of the ongoing interagency effort of the Treasury,
Justice and State Departments to carry out Executive Order 12978,
signed on October 21, 1995, which applies economic sanctions against
Colombia's drug cartels. The assets of a total of 824 Colombian drug
cartel businesses and individuals are now blocked under the 1995
Executive Order; and those businesses and individuals are prohibited
from American financial and business dealings. The list of SDNTs now
includes 14 kingpins from Colombia's Cali, North Valle, and North
Coast drug cartels.
The list of businesses and individuals named by OFAC as SDNTs today is
available at www.treas.gov/ofac, as is the entire list of SDNTs.
Today's list will be published in the Federal Register at a later
date.
(end text)
(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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