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 Home > News & Policies > May 2002

For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
May 31, 2002

Fact Sheet
Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act

Introduction

The Administration has released the names of seven drug traffickers against whom the President has designated as appropriate for sanctions under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act (21 U.S.C. 1901-1908). The Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act (the "Kingpin Act") targets, on a worldwide basis, significant foreign narcotics traffickers, their organizations, and operatives.

Background

The Kingpin Act is the result of legislation originally introduced by Senator Feinstein and the late Senator Coverdell. Its purpose 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, State, Justice and Defense, and the Director of Central Intelligence, coordinate on the identification of proposed kingpins for designation by the President. By June 1 each year, the President must 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.

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. 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. § 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 determined are appropriate for sanctions pursuant to the Kingpin Act are:

Ismael Zambada Garcia - Ismael Zambada Garcia is a citizen of Mexico. There are two pending warrants for his arrest in Mexico. He is charged with narcotics trafficking, bribery, and violation of the federal law against organized crime.

Eduardo Gonzalez Quirarte - Eduardo Gonzalez Quirarte is a citizen of Mexico. He was indicted by a federal grand jury in the Western District of Texas on April 21, 1994, and charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute large quantities of cocaine and marijuana, possession with intent to distribute cocaine, and conspiracy to engage in money laundering.

Mario Ernesto Villanueva Madrid - Mario Villanueva Madrid is a citizen of Mexico. Villanueva Madrid was indicted by a federal grand jury in an indictment in the Southern District of New York on January 8, 2002, for the importation of more than 200 tons of cocaine into the United States.

Villanueva Madrid is charged in that indictment with conspiracy to import cocaine and conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute cocaine.

Luis Fernando Da Costa - Luis Fernando Da Costa is a citizen of Brazil. Da Costa was indicted by a federal grand jury in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on March 7, 2002. Da Costa is charged with conspiracy to import cocaine and conspiracy to manufacture and distribute cocaine, intending and knowing that such substance will be unlawfully imported into the United States from Colombia.

Oded Tuito - Oded Tuito holds Israeli and French citizenship. He has three federal indictments pending against him. He also is facing narcotics charges in the state of California. In March 2000, a federal grand jury in Brooklyn, New York returned a superseding indictment that charges Tuito with conducting a continuing criminal enterprise, conspiracy to import ecstasy, importation of ecstasy, conspiracy to distribute ecstasy with the intent to import it, and conspiracy to engage in money laundering. Tuito also was indicted by a federal grand jury in the Western District of Pennsylvania in December 1999 on charges of conspiracy and possession with intent to distribute ecstasy, cocaine, and marijuana.

Haji Ibrahim - Haji Ibrahim is a citizen of Pakistan. He was indicted by a federal grand jury in the District of New Jersey in August 1998 for conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute heroin and conspiracy to import heroin into the United States from India.

Samuel Knowles - Samuel Knowles is a citizen of The Bahamas. Knowles was first indicted on May 25, 2000 by a federal grand jury in the Southern District of Florida for smuggling cocaine. The grand jury returned a separate indictment on December 8, 2000 on charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine and marijuana, conspiracy to import cocaine and marijuana, possession with the intent to distribute cocaine and marijuana, and importation of cocaine and marijuana.

These names are being added to the designations announced by President Clinton in June 2000 and President Bush in June 2001. The initial designations were: Benjamin Alberto Arellano-Felix; Ramon Eduardo Arellano-Felix; Jose de Jesus Amezcua-Contreras; Luis Ignacio Amezcua-Contreras; Rafael Caro-Quintero; Vicente Carrillo-Fuentes; Chang Chi-Fu; Wei Hsueh-Kang; Noel Timothy Heath; Glenroy Vingrove Matthews; Abeni 0. Ogungbuyi; and Oluwole A. Ogungbuyi in 2000; Osiel Cardenas Guillen; Miguel Caro Quintero; Joaquin Guzman Loera; Ismael Higuera Guerrero; Oscar Malherbe de Leon; Alcides Ramon Magana; Jose Alvarez Tostado; Sher Afghan; Nasir Ali Khan; Chang Ping Yun; Jamil Hamieh; and Joseph Gilboa in 2001.

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