The US Treasury Department put the Mexican on the list of international drug traffickers on Wednesday Juan Manuel Abouzaid El Bayeh, as a high-level member of the Jalisco Cartel New Generation (CJNG).
Abouzaid El Bayeh plays a “key role” in the drug trade and money laundering of the “violent criminal organization” responsible for shipping “a significant portion of the fentanyl” distributed in the United States, the ministry said of Finance.
In a statement, the Ministry of Finance reported that the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has designated Mexican El Bayeh, also known as “El Nene”, “El Escorpión” or “El Árabe”, as a specially designated narcotics dealer, in accordance with the Kingpin Act.
With its listing of drug traffickers, Washington aims to “change” one of the most important links in the leadership structure of the CJNG, said Office of Foreign Assets Control Director Andrea M. Gacki.
Also read: DEA identifies 9 Mexican cartels as the most influential cartels in the US drug trade.
Abouzaid El Bayeh, currently on the run from justice, remains tied to the Mexican cartel run by his boss, Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes “El Mencho”, one of the most wanted drug traffickers in the world.
As a result, assets it may have under US jurisdiction are frozen and financial transactions with US entities are prohibited.
The Jalisco Nueva Generación Cartel, which grew out of a split from the Sinaloa Cartel, operates in 25 of Mexico’s 32 states, although the largest presence is in that of Baja California, Guanajuato, Michoacán, Veracruz and Jalisco.
Juan Manuel Abouzaid is El Bayeh shareholder of the newspaper Unomásuno and Juan Manuel had already been associated with the “El Mencho” cartel in Mexico.
Since the end of 2018, the DEA has asked the Justice Department to process the extradition of several members of the CJNG for Mexico, including Juan Manuel Abouzaid, and, as part of the international cooperation agreements, the UIF secured the bank accounts, which were thawed. in 2020 just like that of his sister Yamile.