US Treasury blacklist Sinaloa companies for money laundering

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OFAC also placed three front companies on its block list for alleged drug trafficking across the border.

Culiacan, Sin. -The Office for the Control of Foreign Assets of the Department of the Treasury signed this Wednesday, October 19, two Sinaloans and one from Sonora who make up the Valenzuela organization, which works under the orders of the Sinaloa Cartel.

In a statement, the US Treasury reported that the leader is Juan Francisco Valenzuela Valenzuela, 42 years old, who is the promoter of a sophisticated drug transfer network in refrigerated trucks .

The trucking companies traffic in cocainefentanyl and methamphetamine, according to OFAC.

The Valenzuela organization was also led by the brothers of Juan FranciscoJorge Alberto and Wendy Yuridia, the latter two arrested in October 2020 and November 2021, respectively, in California .

Also on the black list was Héctor Alfonso Araujo Peralta, also from Sinaloa, and Raúl Rivas Cháirez, from Sonora .

The companies

The companies that the Valenzuela organization manages for the trafficking network, according to OFAC, are Arfel Transportadora Cool Logistic Sa de CV based in GuadalajaraJalisco, which was founded in November 2015.

The second company is Transporte Maruha Sa de Cv, based in Culiacán, which was formalized in March 2012 and the third is Transportes Refrigerados Pandas Sa de Cv, also from Culiacán and from the same month.

“These companies were designated today for having engaged in, or attempted to engage in, activities or transactions that have materially contributed, or present a significant risk of materially contributing to, the international proliferation of illicit drugs or their means of production,” OFAC said.

He also indicated that the Valenzuela organization is one of those that “feeds the drug epidemic in the United States. 

“Starving this network of resources will help deprive the Sinaloa Cartel of the critical support it needs to traffic its dangerous illicit drugs.”

On October 19, 2021, the United States District Court for the Southern District (San Diego) of California filed federal drug charges against Juan Francisco Valenzuela Valenzuela, Héctor Alfonso Araujo Peralta, and Raúl Rivas Chaires. To date, these individuals are fugitives from these charges.