U.S. Treasury targets Laredo heroin trafficking organization

The Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated brothers Job, Ismael, and Rubén Laredo Donjuan, as well as the Laredo Drug Trafficking Organization as Specially Designated Narcotics Traffickers pursuant to the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act (Kingpin Act).  OFAC also designated five other Mexican nationals for their criminal activities in support or on behalf of the Laredo Drug Trafficking Organization or its leadership.  As a result of today’s action, all assets of those designated that are based in the United States or in the control of U.S. persons are frozen, and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with them.

"The Laredo‎ Drug Trafficking Organization is responsible for contributing to the drug epidemic and troubling rise of heroin abuse in this country,” said John E. Smith, OFAC Acting Director.  "Treasury is committed to working with our law enforcement partners to dismantle criminal organizations that facilitate the flow of illicit drugs into the United States.”

Since 2008, the Laredo DTO has been involved in the manufacture, importation, and distribution of heroin from Mexico to the United States, as well as the laundering of drug proceeds from the United States to Mexico.  The Mexico-based drug-trafficking organization is led by brothers Job and Ismael Laredo Donjuan, who were charged in a federal indictment last year brought by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.  Specifically, Job and Ismael Laredo Donjuan were charged with being the principal leaders of a Continuing Criminal Enterprise, among additional federal charges related to drug trafficking and money laundering.

The indictment also charges their respective wives, Mercedes Barrios Hernandez and Daniela Gomez Velazquez, with multiple charges related to money laundering, along with Antonio Marcelo Barragan, with a drug trafficking charge.  Additional Laredo DTO members designated today include Rubén Laredo Donjuan, Andrés Laredo Estrada, and Ismael Reyna Félix.

Today’s action was taken in coordination with the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Philadelphia Field Division and Mexico Country Office, the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Philadelphia Division, and the Mexican Comisión Nacional de Seguridad - Policía Federal.  This designation is part of a larger effort, in collaboration with the Government of Mexico, to use financial sanctions aggressively to disrupt Mexican drug trafficking organizations.