The US Treasury Department has placed an alleged Zetas drug trafficker on its "Kingpin List," increasing the pressure on the financial side of the Mexican cartel's criminal operations.
According to the Treasury Department, Alfredo Andrade Parra is a major trafficker along the US-Mexico border. He stands accused of smuggling large quantities of cocaine and marijuana into the United States and bulk cash shipments into Mexico on behalf of the Zetas. Prior to his arrest by Mexican authorities in April, Andrade Parra, was a "key component" of the Zetas' organization around Ciudad Acuna, Coahuila, the Treasury said.
Andrade Parra is wanted in the United States on charges of narcotics trafficking and money laundering, after Texas courts indicted him in 2003 and 2008. He is the only remaining member of a San Antonio drug-smuggling ring broken up in 2003 who has not yet been sentenced.
His place on the Treasury's list means that under the terms of Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act authorities can freeze any assets he has under US jurisdiction and US citizens are now prohibited from conducting any financial transactions with him.
InSight Crime Analysis
The Kingpin Act, which is primarily a tool to limit the financial operations of criminal groups, has been used against the Zetas since 2009, when President Barack Obama designated the organization as a significant foreign narcotics trafficker. Shortly afterwards, Zetas leaders Miguel and Omar Trevino Morales were added to the list. In 2011 the US imposed additional sanctions on the group as part of the White House's Strategy to Combat Transnational Organized Crime.
Earlier this month the US Treasury placed Kingpin Act sanctions on eight of the Sinaloa Cartel's regional bosses in the state of Sonora.
See here for a chart of Andrade Parra's organization (pdf)
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