US sanctions brother of top figure in Sinaloa cartel

By Dialogo
March 07, 2012

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Office of Foreign Assets Control of the U.S. Department of the Treasury boosted its efforts to cut off financing for Mexico’s notorious Sinaloa drug cartel, adding on March 6 kingpin Ismael Zambada García’s brother to its official sanctions list.
Jesús Reynaldo Zambada controlled a drug trafficking route via Mexico City’s international airport “on behalf of his brother,” one of the two top figures in the violent Sinaloa group, the Treasury said.
Jesús Reynaldo Zambada was arrested in 2008 in Mexico and is awaiting extradition to the United States.
The sanctions, established under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act, freeze any assets of Zambada held by U.S. entities and make it illegal for any U.S. entity or citizen to conduct financial or commercial transactions with him.
The Treasury also placed such sanctions on two companies in Mexico linked to the Zambadas, an agricultural business and a clothing retailer, both located in Culiacán, capital of the state of Sinaloa.
The Treasury “continues to target Ismael Zambada García and his drug trafficking and money laundering network to cripple their influence and deny them access to the U.S. financial system,” said Adam Szubin, head of the Office of Foreign Assets Control.
[AFP, 06/03/2012; Treasury.gov, 06/03/2012]