On June 5, 2025, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control designated members of network responsible for trafficking tons of cocaine from South America to the United States, Europe and the Caribbean. According to OFAC, a total of two Colombian nationals and four Guyanese nationals, including a Guyanese law enforcement official, were sanctioned for using Guyana as a transshipment point in their effort to transport cocaine into the United States. The designees are accused of utilizing boats and narco-submarines or operating covert airstrips in order to move significant quantities of cocaine into the United States – actions that reportedly generate substantial profits for Mexican drug cartels, including the Sinaloa Cartel that maintains a presence in the region. The Sinaloa Cartel is one of several Mexican cartels identified by the Department of State as a Foreign Terrorist Organization and as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist on February 20, 2025. The Sinaloa Cartel was also designated by OFAC in 2009 pursuant to the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act and again in 2021 under EO 14059, which targets the proliferation of illicit drugs and their means of production.
The new designations were issued pursuant to EO 14059 and, according to OFAC, were made possible by OFAC’s cooperation and partnership with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, Homeland Security Investigations, and the U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service. As a result of these designations, all property and interests in property of a designated person within the United States or within the possession or control of a U.S. person are blocked, and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions involving a designated person. Entities owned 50 percent or more by one or more blocked persons are also blocked.
U.S. Department of Treasury Press Release | OFAC Chart – Traffickers Use Guyana as Cocaine Transshipment Point to the U.S.