US Treasury sanctions Mexican arms trafficker for supplying American weapons

ISTANBUL

The US Treasury Department said Tuesday it sanctioned a Mexican arms trafficker for supplying US-sourced weapons to a Mexico-based organization that traffics drugs entering the US.

The agency said Jesus Cisneros Hernandez provided, or attempted to provide, financial, material or technological support to the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG) -- an organization that traffics a significant proportion of the illicit fentanyl and other deadly drugs that enter the US.

It said Cisneros Hernandez conspired to purchase high-powered firearms in the US state of Wisconsin, smuggle them to Mexico and supply them to CJNG.

A federal grand jury in Wisconsin charged Cisneros Hernandez in November 2021 with 22 counts of various firearm-related violations, it noted.

The Treasury Department said its Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) had sanctioned CJNG in April 2015 for playing a significant role in international narcotics trafficking and it targeted its arms trafficking activities.

OFAC, in addition, designated in July Obed Christian Sepulveda Portillo, who coordinated the daily procurement of firearms and bulk ammunition from the US southwest border into Mexico working directly with CJNG, according to the agency.

"CJNG relies on high-powered weapons primarily obtained from the United States to protect its territory while intimidating rivals and governmental authorities," Under Secretary of the Treasury Brian E. Nelson said in a statement.

"CJNG’s access to these weapons contributes to its ability to flood the United States with fentanyl and other deadly drugs. Treasury is working with U.S. and Mexican partners to expose, isolate, and disrupt those who facilitate CJNG’s lethal activities," he added.