July 19 (UPI) — The U.S. Department of the Treasury has sanctioned multiple individuals for links to drug trafficking. The Office of Foreign Assets Control designated three Belgian citizens and one Mexican citizen.
“Today, OFAC sanctioned three Belgian nationals, including Othman El Ballouti, who is a high-level drug trafficker, as well as his younger brother, Younes El Ballouti, and his associate, Youssef Ben Azza,” the Treasury Department said in a press release Wednesday.
The Treasury Department said the three Belgians are part of an international drug smuggling and money laundering network.
“Othman El Ballouti manages an international criminal organization that smuggles significant quantities of cocaine via shipping containers through the Port of Antwerp in Belgium for wider distribution throughout Europe,” the Treasury Department said.
According to the Treasury Department, Othman El Ballouti runs a money laundering enterprise with links to businesses in mainland China and to drug traffickers in South America, specifically the previously sanctioned Ecuadorian national and cocaine trafficker Wilder Emilio Sanchez Farfan.
Youssef Ben Azza is accused of having been involved in drug trafficking for over a decade and has helped establish front companies for the El Ballouti brothers’ trafficking business, the Treasury Department said.
Younes El Ballouti was convicted of drug trafficking in absentia by a Belgian court and sentenced to 8 years in prison.
The El Ballouti brothers both have active warrants in their native Belgium for cocaine trafficking and, along with Youssef Ben Azza, are believed to be living in the United Arab Emirates to avoid prosecution.
Additionally, Mexican citizen Franco Tabarez Marinez was designated for his involvement in cocaine and fentanyl trafficking in alliance with the La Nueva Familia Michoacana drug trafficking organization.
“Tabarez Martinez distributes cocaine, fentanyl, and methamphetamine to the United States, including Atlanta, Georgia, and Huston, Texas. In addition, Tabarez Martinez manages methamphetamine laboratories in Mexico and have received fentanyl powder from the PRC,” the Treasury Department said.
“Today’s actions underscore the importance of our collective efforts to disrupt the global illicit drug trade,” said Undersecretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson.
