The Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control on Friday sanctioned the Los Mendoza Drug Trafficking Organization and the Los Huistas Drug Trafficking Organization for supporting Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel and Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion, the department said.
Treasury said the two Guatemala-based groups control key smuggling routes near Guatemala’s frontiers with Honduras and Mexico and act as logistics partners for the Sinaloa Cartel and CJNG. Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent said, “Today’s action exposes the ties between politically influential Guatemalan criminal organizations and Mexican foreign terrorist organizations that facilitate the flow of deadly narcotics into the United States.”
OFAC said it designated Los Mendoza pursuant to Executive Order 14059 and to Executive Order 13224, as amended, for providing material support to the Sinaloa Cartel. It designated Los Huistas under amended Executive Order 13224 for materially supporting the Sinaloa Cartel and CJNG. The department said the Sinaloa Cartel and CJNG use local groups such as Los Mendoza and Los Huistas to manage the receipt, storage and cross-border transportation of narcotics for distribution in the United States and other markets.
According to Treasury, the Sinaloa Cartel and CJNG are Mexico’s most powerful cartels and are responsible for a significant share of deadly drugs trafficked into the United States. The Department of State designated both cartels as Foreign Terrorist Organizations and Specially Designated Global Terrorists on Feb. 20, 2025, and OFAC designated both cartels under Executive Order 14059 on Dec. 15, 2021, the release said. The cartels were also identified as significant foreign narcotics traffickers on April 15, 2009, and April 8, 2015, under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act, Treasury said.
Treasury said the action was coordinated with the Department of State, which in a concurrent action is designating Los Lorenzanas as an FTO under section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, and also naming it an SDGT under Executive Order 13224, as amended.
As a result of the OFAC designations, all property and interests in property of the designated persons that are located in the United States or held or controlled by U.S. persons are blocked and must be reported to OFAC. Entities in which one or more blocked persons have 50 percent or greater ownership, whether direct or indirect, are likewise blocked. Absent a general or specific license issued by OFAC or an exemption, U.S. persons are generally prohibited from transactions involving the property or interests in property of designated or otherwise blocked persons, the department said.
Treasury said violations may result in civil or criminal penalties for U.S. and foreign persons, and it may impose civil penalties on a strict liability basis. It warned that financial institutions and others may risk exposure to sanctions for certain dealings with designated or blocked persons, including making or receiving funds, goods or services. Treasury also said foreign financial institutions that knowingly conduct or facilitate significant transactions on behalf of a designated person may face secondary sanctions, including limits on U.S. correspondent or payable-through accounts.
Treasury noted that individuals who send information about sanctions violations to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network’s (FinCEN’s) whistleblower incentive program may be eligible for awards if the information leads to an enforcement action with monetary penalties exceeding $1,000,000. The department said it can remove persons from the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List consistent with the law and directed those seeking removal to OFAC’s petition process.