The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) imposed new sanctions this week on eight Mexican individuals and eight Mexican companies linked to the Ruelas Torres drug trafficking organization (Ruelas Torres DTO).
The Treasury Department took this action pursuant to the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act (Kingpin Act). The action prohibits U.S. persons from engaging in transactions or otherwise dealing with the named individuals and companies. Any assets they have under U.S. jurisdiction have been frozen.
“Heroin use is an epidemic in the United States, fueled by smugglers like Joel Efren Ruelas Avila and his drug trafficking organization who bring deadly drugs across our Southern border and seek to launder illicit proceeds back into Mexico,” Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Sigal Mandelker said. “OFAC, DEA and the Department of Justice continue to methodically target the individuals and businesses who profit from the sale of this poison.”
OFAC, the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) Denver Field Division, and Mexican authorities worked closely to execute the action.
The Ruelas Torres DTO has been involved in the manufacture and distribution of heroin from Sinaloa, Mexico to the United States for generations. The organization has been led by Joel Efren Ruelas Avila since the 2017 death of his father, Jose Luis Ruelas Torres.