White House ONDCP Statement on New Sanctions Issued by the Biden-⁠Harris Administration to Target Sinaloa Cartel Members and Disrupt Global Illicit Fentanyl Trafficking

In delivering on President Biden’s National Drug Control Strategy to beat the overdose crisis, Biden-Harris Administration announces new sanctions to crack down on global illicit fentanyl supply chain

Washington, D.C. – Today, White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) Director Dr. Rahul Gupta released the following statement on new sanctions issued by the Biden-Harris Administration and coordinated closely with the Government of Mexico targeting 13 Sinaloa Cartel members and four Sonora, Mexico-based entities for supplying illicit fentanyl and its precursors into communities across the globe. Today’s actions were made possible by President Biden’s Executive Order on Imposing Sanctions on Foreign Persons Involved in the Global Illicit Drug Trade.

“Our mandate from President Biden is clear: we must stop the drug trafficking organizations that profit off of harming Americans,” said Dr. Gupta. “In close coordination with the Government of Mexico and by leveraging President Biden’s Executive Order, we will continue to take aggressive action and exercise global leadership to strike drug trafficking organizations where it hurts them the most, in their wallets, while ensuring our historic investments in critical public health interventions to take hold here at home.”

The Biden-Harris Administration is committed to working with international partners to disrupt the global fentanyl supply chain, and prioritizing the use of sanctions to hold drug traffickers and their facilitators accountable. As a result of today’s action, all property and interests of the designated individuals and entities that are in the United States, or in the possession or control of U.S. persons, must be blocked and reported to OFAC. In addition, any entities that are owned, directly or indirectly, 50 percent or more by one or more blocked persons are also blocked. OFAC’s regulations generally prohibit all dealings by U.S. persons or within the United States (including transactions transiting the United States) that involve any property or interests in property of designated or otherwise blocked persons.

In his most recent supplemental funding request, President Biden is calling on Congress to advance critical national security priorities by delivering $1.2 billion to crack down on the trafficking of dangerous and lethal illicit drugs like fentanyl. The Administration is asking Congress to provide the resources our law enforcement personnel need to secure the southwest border and stop the flow of fentanyl into our country.

During his first State of the Union address, President Biden announced beating the overdose epidemic as one of the four pillars of his Unity Agenda, focused on issues where members of both parties can come together and make progress for the American people. Over the past two years, the Biden-Harris Administration has made addressing global illicit drug trafficking and cracking down on transnational organized crime a key priority in the efforts to beat the overdose epidemic.

The Administration’s decisive actions to crack down on drug trafficking also include:

• Announcing a strategic approach of Commercially Disrupting the global illicit fentanyl supply chain. The Biden-Harris Administration announced a strengthened whole-of-government approach to save lives by disrupting the trafficking of illicit fentanyl and its precursors into American communities. This approach builds on the President’s National Drug Control Strategy and helps deliver on his State of the Union call to beat the opioid and overdose epidemic by cracking down on the production, sale, and trafficking of illicit fentanyl to help save lives, protect the public health, and improve the public safety of our communities.
• Launching the Global Coalition to Address Synthetic Drug Threats.  The Biden-Harris Administration launched the Global Coalition to Address Synthetic Drug Threats that will help accelerate efforts against illicit synthetic drugs and employ coordinated approaches to prevent illicit drug manufacturing, detect emerging drug threats, disrupt trafficking, address illicit finance, and respond to public safety and public health impacts. The Administration brought together more than 80 countries and 11 international organizations to take action knowing that countering illicit synthetic drugs must be a global policy priority.
• Expanding our High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Program. The HIDTA program devotes more than $275 million to supporting federal, state, local, and Tribal law enforcement working to stop traffickers across all 50 states. Earlier this summer, the White House announced the designation of nine new counties to the HIDTA Program. The addition of these nine counties to the HIDTA program will allow additional resources to be deployed to areas hardest hit by drug trafficking and overdoses.
• Regulating “precursor” chemicals used to produce illicit fentanyl. At the request of the United States, the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) voted to control three chemicals used by drug traffickers to produce illicit fentanyl.

In addition to the more than $1.2 billion requested to fight fentanyl trafficking, the White House is also requesting $1.55 billion to strengthen addiction treatment, overdose prevention measures, and recovery support services across the country. Taken together, the two supplemental funding requests will help deliver on President Biden’s National Drug Control Strategy, which focuses on going after the two key drivers of the overdose epidemic: drug traffickers and untreated addiction.

Read President Biden’s National Drug Control Strategy HERE.

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