For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
June 1, 2004
Fact Sheet: Overview of the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act
Introduction The Administration has released the names
of 10 drug traffickers and entities against whom the President decided
to impose sanctions pursuant to the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin
Designation Act (21 U.S.C. 1901-1908, 8 U.S.C. 1182). The Foreign
Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act (the "Kingpin Act") targets, on a
worldwide basis, significant foreign narcotics traffickers, their
organizations, and operatives.
Background The purpose of the Kingpin Act is to deny
significant foreign narcotics traffickers, their related businesses,
and their operatives access to the U.S. financial system and all trade
and transactions involving U.S. companies and individuals. The
Kingpin Act authorizes the President to take these actions when he
determines that a foreign narcotics trafficker presents a threat to the
national security, foreign policy, or economy of the United States.
Congress modeled the Kingpin Act after the effective sanctions program
that the Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control
("OFAC") administers against the Colombian drug cartels pursuant to
Executive Order 12978 issued in October 1995 under authority of the
International Emergency Economic Powers Act ("IEEPA").
Implementation The Kingpin Act requires that the
Departments of Treasury, Justice, State, and Defense, and the Central
Intelligence Agency, coordinate on the identification of proposed
kingpins for designation by the President. Although not required by
statute, the Department of Homeland Security also is included in the
process. By June 1 each year, the Act calls for the President to
report to specified congressional committees those "foreign persons
[he] determines are appropriate for sanctions" and stating his intent
to impose sanctions upon those foreign persons pursuant to the Act.
While this is a recurring annual requirement, the President may
designate significant foreign narcotics traffickers at any time.
Under the Kingpin Act, the President may designate foreign entities
as well as foreign individuals as kingpins. A foreign person is
defined as "any citizen or national of a foreign state or any entity
not organized under the laws of the United States, but does not include
a foreign state." Likewise, the President is not required to designate
Colombian persons exclusively under Executive Order 12978, issued in
October 1995 under authority of the International Emergency Economic
Powers Act ("IEEPA"), and may designate a Colombian individual or
entity under the Kingpin Act, which is intended to be global in scope.
The long-term effectiveness of the Kingpin Act is enhanced by the
Department of the Treasury's authority (in consultation with
appropriate government agencies and departments) to make derivative
designations of foreign individuals and entities providing specified
types of support or assistance to designated traffickers. This
authority broadens the scope of application of the economic sanctions
against designated kingpins to include their businesses and
operatives. To date, the President has announced 48 Kingpins and the
Department of the Treasury has announced a total of 66 derivative
designations, 14 entities and 52 individuals, pursuant to section
805(b) of the Kingpin Act. These entities and individuals are subject
to the same sanctions that apply to kingpins. In addition, designated
individuals and immediate family members who have knowingly benefited
from the designated individuals' illicit activity will be denied visas
to the United States under 8 U.S.C. section 1182(a)(2)(C).
The Kingpin Act provides for criminal penalties of up to 10 years
imprisonment for individuals and up to a $10 million fine for entities
for violations, as well as a maximum of 30 years imprisonment and/or a
$5 million fine for officers, directors or agents of entities who
knowingly participate in violations. The Kingpin Act also provides for
civil penalties of up to $1 million.
Designations The foreign persons that the President has
designated as appropriate for sanctions pursuant to the Kingpin Act
are:
Arellano Felix Organization (Mexico) Eduardo Ramon Arellano
Felix (Mexico) Francisco Javier Arellano Felix (Mexico)
Carrillo Fuentes Organization (Mexico) Armando Valencia Cornelio
(Mexico) Norris Nembhard (Jamaica) Leebert Ramcharan
(Jamaica) Fernando Melciades Zevallos Gonzales (Peru) Iqbal
Mirchi (India) Haji Bashir Noorzai (Afghanistan)
These names are being added to the designations first announced in
June 2000 and announced every year since then. A complete list of
individuals and entities designated can be found at
www.treasury.gov/ofac.
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