WASHINGTON, May 7 (Xinhua) -- The United States on Tuesday slapped sanctions on eight Mexican nationals, accusing them of acting as " plaza bosses" for the Sinaloa drug cartel along the Arizona-Mexico border.
The Department of Treasury added to its blacklist Cenobio Flores Pacheco (aka Luis Fernando Castro Villa), Jesus Alfredo Salazar Ramirez, Guillermo Nieblas Nava (aka Adelmo Niebla Gonzalez), Ramon Ignacio Paez Soto, Felipe De Jesus Sosa Canisales, Armando Lopez Aispuro, Jose Javier Rascon Ramirez and Raul Sabori Cisneros.
As a result, U.S. citizens are barred from doing business with these persons and all of their assets under U.S. jurisdiction are frozen.
"Each of the eight plaza bosses operates as a Sinaloa Cartel leader within their specific area of operation along the Sonora- Arizona corridor of the U.S.-Mexico International Boundary, which extends for nearly 375 miles," the Treasury said in a statement.
It said the Sinaloa Cartel depends on these plaza bosses, leaders of a particular geographic area, to "coordinate, direct and support" the smuggling of illegal drugs from Mexico into the U. S. and the smuggling of illicit contraband from the U.S. into Mexico.
"Today's designation marks another step in OFAC's efforts to specifically target the narcotics traffickers responsible for the horrific acts of violence committed along the Arizona border with Mexico," said Adam Szubin, director of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).
"We will continue to work alongside our partners in federal law enforcement as well as the Mexican government to financially cripple and dismantle the Sinaloa Cartel," he said.
Since June 2000, Washington has identified 97 drug kingpins and blacklisted more than 1,200 entities and individuals worldwide.
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