Action Targets Los Rastrojos
Organization and Drug Lord Diego Perez Henao
WASHINGTON – The
U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) today
designated the Colombian criminal organization, Los Rastrojos, and drug
trafficker, Diego Perez Henao (alias “Diego Rastrojo”), as Specially Designated
Narcotics Traffickers (SDNTs) pursuant to the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin
Designation Act (Kingpin Act). This
action, taken pursuant to the Kingpin Act, generally prohibits U.S. persons
from conducting financial or commercial transactions with this individual and
organization, and also freezes any assets either may have under U.S.
jurisdiction.
“By targeting this violent criminal organization currently
operating in Colombia, Ecuador, and Venezuela, we are taking steps to expose
their activities and undermine their operations,” said OFAC Director Adam J.
Szubin. “OFAC will use these sanctions
against key leaders and facilitators of this criminal organization so long as
they continue their criminal behavior.”
Los Rastrojos emerged from the now extinct Cali and North
Valle drug cartels in Colombia. It is a
network of armed drug trafficking groups operating in Colombia, Ecuador, and
Venezuela that manufactures, transports, and protects cocaine loads as well as
directs extortion and debt collections.
Colombian authorities refer to criminal organizations like Los Rastrojos
as “Bandas Criminales” or BACRIM, which are organized groups of drug
traffickers as well as former paramilitary and guerrilla members of the United
Self-Defense Groups of Colombia (AUC), the Revolutionary Armed Forces of
Colombia (FARC), and the National Liberation Army (ELN).
Diego Perez Henao has been involved in drug trafficking and
other criminal activity for over twenty years; having started as a cocaine
laboratory operator and then rising in notoriety due to his association with
notable North Valle drug cartel leaders such as Wilber Varela, Jaime Alberto
Marin Zamora, and the Calle Serna brothers, Javier Antonio and Luis Enrique,
all previously designated as SDNTs by OFAC.
Perez Henao operated Los Rastrojos drug trafficking organization
throughout the North Valley region of Colombia, as well as the Pacific coastal
regions of western Colombia. He was the
main source of supply for numerous multi-ton loads of cocaine smuggled into the
U.S., owning and coordinating airborne and maritime cocaine shipments destined
for the U.S. through Venezuela to Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico. He was arrested in June 2012 in Venezuela and
extradited to Colombia in July 2012, where he is facing numerous criminal
charges. In addition, a Federal Grand
Jury in the Southern District of Florida has indicted Perez Henao; charging him
with conspiring to manufacture and distribute cocaine into the U.S. Despite the June 2012 arrest of Perez Henao,
Los Rastrojos still operates today.
Today’s action, supported by the Drug Enforcement
Administration, is part of OFAC’s ongoing efforts under the Kingpin Act to
apply financial measures against significant foreign narcotics traffickers
worldwide. Since June 2000 the President has identified 97 drug kingpins
and OFAC has designated more than 1,200 businesses and individuals. Penalties for violations of the Kingpin Act
range from civil penalties of up to $1.075 million per violation to more severe
criminal penalties. Criminal penalties for corporate officers may include
up to 30 years in prison and fines of up to $5 million. Criminal fines
for corporations may reach $10 million.
Other individuals face up to 10 years in prison and fines for criminal
violation of the Kingpin Act pursuant to Title 18 of the United States Code.
To view a chart of Los
Rastrojos and Diego Perez Henao, click here.
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