US sanctions Venezuela criminal cartel ‘headed by Maduro’
The US Treasury has designated Venezuela’s Cartel de los Soles as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist organisation, alleging the criminal network is headed by President Nicolas Maduro and provides material support to foreign terrorist organisations threatening American security.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control announced the sanctions, targeting the cartel for supporting the also-designated Tren de Aragua and the Sinaloa Cartel in narcotics trafficking operations aimed at the United States.
‘Today’s action further exposes the illegitimate Maduro regime’s facilitation of narco-terrorism through terrorist groups like Cartel de los Soles,’ said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
‘Cartel de los Soles is a Venezuela-based criminal group headed by Nicolas Maduro Moros and other high-ranking Venezuelan individuals in the Maduro regime that provides material support to foreign terrorist organizations,’ Treasury said, alleging it supports Tren de Aragua’s objective of ‘using the flood of illegal narcotics as a weapon against the United States’ while also providing material assistance to the Sinaloa Cartel’s operations.
Both Tren de Aragua and the Sinaloa Cartel were designated as Foreign Terrorist Organisations by the State Department on 20 February 2025. Tren de Aragua, which originated in Venezuela, allegedly engages in drug trafficking, human smuggling, extortion, sexual exploitation and money laundering. The Sinaloa Cartel, one of Mexico’s oldest and most powerful cartels, is alleged to traffic fentanyl, methamphetamine and cocaine into the United States.
The sanctions block all US-based property and interests belonging to the Cartel de los Soles and prohibit American persons from conducting transactions with the organisation. Entities owned 50% or more by designated persons are also blocked.
Secondary sanctions may be imposed on foreign financial institutions that knowingly conduct significant transactions on behalf of the designated cartel, Treasury warned. Financial institutions face potential sanctions exposure for engaging in transactions involving blocked persons.
The designation marks an escalation in US pressure on the Maduro government, which Washington does not recognise, directly linking Venezuela’s leadership to international narcotics trafficking operations targeting American territory through terrorist proxy organisations.
An email for comment to the foreign ministry in Caracas did not receive an immediate response.
