The illegal drug trade, drug trafficking, or narcotrafficking is a global black market dedicated to the cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of prohibited drugs. Most jurisdictions prohibit trade, except under license, of many types of drugs through the use of drug prohibition laws. The think tank Global Financial Integrity's Transnational Crime and the Developing World report estimates the size of the global illicit drug market between US$426 and US$652 billion in 2014 alone. With a world GDP of US$78 trillion in the same year, the illegal drug trade may be estimated as nearly 1% of total global trade. Consumption of illegal drugs is widespread globally, and it remains very difficult for local authorities to reduce the rates of drug consumption.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is a financial intelligence and enforcement agency of the United States Treasury Department. It administers and enforces economic and trade sanctions in support of U.S. national security and foreign policy objectives. Under presidential national emergency powers, OFAC carries out its activities against foreign governments, organizations, and individuals deemed a threat to U.S. national security.
The Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, 1961 is an international treaty that controls activities involving specific narcotic drugs and lays down a system of regulations for their medical and scientific uses, concluded under the auspices of the United Nations. The Convention also establishes the International Narcotics Control Board.
United States sanctions are financial and trade restrictions imposed against individuals, entities, and jurisdictions whose actions contradict U.S. foreign policy or national security goals. Financial sanctions are primarily administered by the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), while export controls are primarily administered by the U.S. Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS).
Myanmar (Burma) and the United States had a diplomatic contact prior to the British colonial period. They established formal diplomatic relations in 1947 in anticipation of Burma's independence.
A Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) is a person or entity that has been designated as such by the United States Department of State or the U.S. Department of the Treasury. An SDGT designation is made under authority of U.S. Executive Order 13224 of September 23, 2001, as amended by Executive Order 13268 of July 2, 2002, and Executive Order 13284 of January 23, 2003, and Title 31, Parts 595, 596, and 597 of the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations, among other U.S. laws and regulations. The main regulatory framework underlying the SDGT designation was established two weeks after the September 11 attacks in 2001 by U.S. President George W. Bush.
The Magnitsky Act, formally known as the Russia and Moldova Jackson–Vanik Repeal and Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act of 2012, is a bipartisan bill passed by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Barack Obama in December 2012, intending to punish Russian officials responsible for the death of Russian tax lawyer Sergei Magnitsky in a Moscow prison in 2009 and also to grant permanent normal trade relations status to Russia and Moldova by repealing the applicability of the Jackson–Vanik amendment.
The US federal government is an opponent of the illegal drug trade; however, state laws vary greatly and in some cases contradict federal laws.
The Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act, better known as the Kingpin Act, is landmark federal legislation in the United States intended to address international narcotics trafficking by imposing United States sanctions on foreign persons and entities involved in the drug trade.
The alleged illicit activities of the North Korean state include manufacture and sale of illegal drugs, the manufacture and sale of counterfeit consumer goods, human trafficking, arms trafficking, wildlife trafficking, counterfeiting currency, terrorism, and other areas. It is alleged many of these activities are undertaken at the direction and under the control of the North Korean government and the ruling Workers' Party of Korea, with their proceeds going towards advancing the country's nuclear and conventional arms production, funding the lifestyles of the country's elite, and propping up the North Korean economy.
A number of countries and international bodies have imposed international sanctions against North Korea. Currently, many sanctions are concerned with North Korea's nuclear weapons programme and were imposed after its first nuclear test in 2006.
The Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) is a United States federal law that imposed sanctions on Iran, North Korea, and Russia. The bill was passed by the Senate on July 27, 2017, 98–2, after it passed the House 419–3. It was signed into law on August 2, 2017, by President Donald Trump, who nevertheless believed that the legislation was "seriously flawed".
Ovidio Guzmán López is a Mexican former drug lord and high-ranking member of the Sinaloa Cartel, a criminal group based in the state of Sinaloa. He is the son of another drug lord Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán, once considered Mexico's most-wanted drug lord and the world's most-wanted criminal. Guzmán López was suspected of being a leader within a Sinaloa Cartel faction often referred to as Los Chapitos, Los Menores, and/or Los Juniors.
The United States government applies economic sanctions against certain institutions and key members of the Chinese government and its ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP), certain companies linked to the People's Liberation Army (PLA), and other affiliates that the U.S. government has accused of aiding in human rights abuses. The U.S. maintained embargoes against China from the inception of the People's Republic of China in 1949 until 1972. An embargo was reimposed by the U.S. following the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre. From 2020 onward, the U.S. imposed sanctions and visa restrictions against several Chinese government officials and companies, in response to the persecution of Uyghurs in China, human rights abuses in Hong Kong and Tibet, military-civil fusion, support for the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and fentanyl production.
La Nueva Familia Michoacana or La Nueva Familia, is a criminal organization that specializes in illegal drug trafficking, illegal mining, and extortion. It is currently headed by Johnny Hurtado Olascoaga, alias ”El Pez”, and his brother, Jose Alfredo Hurtado Olascoaga, alias ”El Fresa”. The Organization formed as a splinter group in 2011 after the original La Familia Michoacana lost their power in 2010 with the formation of the Knights Templar Cartel and with Nazario Moreno's suspected death. The Organization mainly dedicated to drug trafficking and battling the CJNG criminal organization out of Tierra Caliente region in Michoacán and Guerrero. According to The United States Department of the Treasury, the organization is primarily involved in the distribution of cocaine, fentanyl, and methamphetamine to the United States, but it’s also involved in growing marijuana and poppies. Many of its leaders have been arrested for threatening and blackmailing people on social media. La Nueva Familia Michoacana operates in at least 35 municipalities in the southern areas of Mexico.
Joseph Lambert is a Haitian politician who served as the president of the Haitian Senate from 2021 to 2023. Lambert had previously been the president of the Senate from 2006 to 2008 and from 2018 to 2019. He was sanctioned by Canadian and American authorities for his involvement in the global illicit drug trade, corruption, and gross violations of human rights on 4 November 2022.
Yulan Adonay Archaga Carias is a Honduran fugitive, drug lord, and a suspected leader of the MS-13 gang in Honduras who was added to the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list on November 3, 2021. He is wanted for racketeering, narcotics trafficking, and firearms offenses. Archaga Carias is allegedly in charge of MS-13 for all of Honduras and is believed to be providing firearms, narcotics, and cash to gang members who are operating within the United States. He is also believed to be responsible for ordering the murders of rival gang members. Authorities believe he is still in Honduras.
Navalny 35 are a group of Russian human rights abusers, kleptocrats, and corruptioners involved in poisoning and imprisonment of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny. The initial list contained 35 individuals.
The United States has supported Ukraine during the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine. After it began on 24 February 2022, President Joe Biden condemned the invasion, provided military, financial and humanitarian aid to Ukraine, and imposed sanctions against Russia and Belarus.
