“US TREASURY TARGETS COLOMBIA DRUG LORDS WHO WORK WITH THE FARC TERRORIST GROUPS” ~

FROM THE -
JOURNALS of Monte Friesner ~ Wednesday December 15, 2010 >

Financial Crime Consultant for WANTED SA >

WANTED SA has just received this morning the US Treasury is targeting Colombian Drug Lords who are allied with the FARC. The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) today designated 20 individuals and 25 entities as Specially Designated Narcotics Traffickers (SDNTs) pursuant to the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act (Kingpin Act).

OFAC designated these individuals and entities because of their ties to previously-designated SDNTs Daniel Barrera Barrera and Pedro Oliveiro Guerrero Castillo, who are among the most wanted drug traffickers in Colombia today. As a result of today’s action, U.S. persons are prohibited from conducting financial or commercial transactions with these entities and individuals and any assets the designees may have under U.S. jurisdiction are frozen.

OFAC designated drug trafficking partners Daniel Barrera Barrera (a.k.a. “El Loco Barrera”) and Pedro Oliveiro Guerrero Castillo (a.k.a. “Cuchillo”) as SDNTs pursuant to the Kingpin Act in March 2010. At the time OFAC also designated 29 individuals and 47 entities associated with the traffickers. Daniel Barrera Barrera and Pedro Oliveiro Guerrero Castillo maintain a partnership with the FARC (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia), a narco-terrorist organization identified by the President as a kingpin pursuant to the Kingpin Act in 2003. Barrera Barrera also faces narcotics-related criminal charges in the U.S. District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York.

“Today’s action strikes again at the criminal drug trafficking organizations led by el Loco Barrera and Cuchillo and their alliance with the FARC,” said OFAC Director Adam J. Szubin.

Among the individuals designated today are Colombian nationals and key drug trafficking facilitators for Barrera Barrera, German Gonzalo Sanchez Rey (a.k.a. “Coleta”), Rutdy Alirio Zarate Moreno (a.k.a. “Runcho”), and Carlos Fernando Serralde Plaza. Sanchez Rey was captured by Colombian authorities in May 2010 and awaits extradition to Spain on drug trafficking charges. He controls the Parador Turistico y Hotel Galeron Llanero, a hotel in San Martin, Meta, Colombia. Zarate Moreno works closely with Sanchez Rey and owns Importaciones y Exportaciones Zafiro S.L., a precious stone company in Madrid, Spain. Both businesses were targeted for sanctions today. Serralde Plaza was captured by Colombian authorities in September 2010 and awaits extradition to the United States for drug trafficking and money laundering charges in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. Serralde Plaza controls Osermaca C.A., a Venezuelan construction company that was also designated by OFAC.

Also designated today were Danit Dario Doria Castillo and Deysi Yamile Molano Torres, the suspected nephew and girlfriend of Guerrero Castillo, respectively. Both are members of ERPAC (Ejercito Revolucionario Popular Antiterrorista de Colombia), an armed group that operates in eastern Colombia to protect coca crops and drug trafficking routes that was designated by Treasury in March 2010 for being owned or controlled by Guerrero Castillo. Doria Castillo was captured by Colombian authorities in April 2010 and remains in custody. Molano Torres was captured by Colombian authorities in November 2008 but escaped from house arrest in March 2010.

The businesses designated today include T Plus S.A.S., a Bogota textile company, Mojete Parrilla, a Bogota restaurant, and 7 Karnes, a Bogota meat distributor. These businesses were created to replace entities that were put out of business as a result of sanctions applied to Barrera Barrera’s organization in March 2010. In addition, Ladrillera El Porvenir Ltda., a supplier of construction materials located in San Jose del Guaviare, Colombia, was designated today for being owned and controlled by Oscar de Jesus Lopez Cadavid and Nebio de Jesus Echeverry Cadavid. Lopez Cadavid and Echeverry Cadavid, both ex-governors of the Colombian department of Guaviare, were designated by Treasury in March 2010 because of their ties to Guerrero Castillo.

OFAC worked closely with the Drug Enforcement Administration on this investigation. Today’s action is part of ongoing efforts pursuant to the Kingpin Act to apply financial measures against significant foreign narcotics traffickers worldwide. Internationally, more than 800 businesses linked to 87 drug kingpins have been designated pursuant to the Kingpin Act since June 2000. 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 up to $5 million. Criminal fines for corporations may reach $10 million. Other individuals face up to 10 years in prison and fines pursuant to Title 18 of the United States Code for criminal violations of the Kingpin Act.

WANTED SA kindly thanks Associated Press, all the Parties, Press, Journalists, Law Enforcement and Securities forces who have contributed to this article and their sincere opinions and statements.

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