Washington — Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) redesignated, pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 14059, the Los Pochos Drug Trafficking Organization (DTO), and designated three members and four affiliated companies based in Guatemala. First sanctioned in 2019 pursuant to the Kingpin Act, the Los Pochos DTO is a Guatemala-based organizationprimarily engaged in cocaine trafficking from Guatemala through Mexico to the United States. Today’s action places renewed attention on the Los Pochos DTO following a change in leadership and involvement of its members in local Guatemalan politics. The Los Pochos DTO controls narcotics trafficking activities on the Guatemala-Mexico border and is associated with Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel, one of the world’s most notorious drug trafficking organizations.
“The Los Pochos DTO, relying on a network of corrupt officials, has continued to facilitate the flow of illicit drugs from Guatemala into Mexico and the United States,” said Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian E. Nelson. “Treasury, in close coordination with our law enforcement partners, will continue to leverage our tools to disrupt these facilitation networks and deadly drug flows.”
This action was coordinated closely with the Government of Guatemala, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Texas, and U.S. Southern Command.
THE LOS POCHOS DTO AND ITS NETWORK
The Los Pochos DTO, based in Guatemala and Mexico, supplies multi-ton quantities of cocaine to multiple high-level Guatemala- and Mexico-based heads of cocaine trafficking cells. The Los Pochos DTO supplies vast quantities of cocaine to Sinaloa Cartel leaders who have an existing transportation infrastructure to receive, consolidate, and transport the cocaine to markets in the United States. The Los Pochos DTO relies on corrupt public officials, including police and military officers, prosecutors, and other Guatemalan authorities, to facilitate its trafficking.
In December 2019, Erik Salvador Suñiga Rodriguez (Suñiga Rodriguez), known as “El Pocho,” and the Suñiga Rodriguez DTO or “Los Pochos DTO” were identified as significant foreign narcotics traffickers pursuant to the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act (Kingpin Act). The DTO’s name was derived from Suñiga Rodriguez’s alias. Suñiga Rodriguez was the mayor of the Municipality of Ayutla, in the Guatemalan border department of San Marcos. Using his official government position, Suñiga Rodriguez controlled narcotics trafficking activities on the Guatemala-Mexico border with support of corrupt Guatemalan local law enforcement officials. In 2018, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Texas charged Suñiga Rodriguez with trafficking cocaine to the United States. Suñiga Rodriguez surrendered to Guatemalan authorities and was extradited to the United States in December 2019 on drug trafficking charges. Suñiga Rodriguez died of cancer in prison in April 2020. Despite his death, the Los Pochos DTO remains active and under new leadership by Suñiga Rodriguez’s family members.
Today, OFAC redesignated the Los Pochos DTO pursuant to E.O. 14059 for having engaged in, or attempted to engage in, activities or transactions that have materially contributed to, or pose a significant risk of materially contributing to, the international proliferation of illicit drugs or their means of production. The designation under new authorities serves to maintain pressure on the Los Pochos DTO by targeting its new leadership.
Juan Jose Morales Cifuentes (Morales Cifuentes), a leader of the Los Pochos DTO since 2019, is a Guatemala-based cocaine distributor and transportation coordinator associated with the Sinaloa Cartel and the son-in-law of deceased significant foreign narcotics trafficker Suñiga Rodriguez. Morales Cifuentes takes advantage of his political connections through his wife Isel Aneli Suñiga Morfin (Suñiga Morfin), who is the new mayor of Ayutla, to protect the Los Pochos DTO’s interests. Morales Cifuentes is notorious for using violence to resolve conflicts and has engaged in executions of former associates in furtherance of the Los Pochos DTO’s narcotics trafficking activities. Mexican traffickers pay taxes to Morales Cifuentes to store their narcotics in the Guatemalan border towns of Tecun Uman and San Marcos.
On June 15, 2023, a grand jury in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas charged Morales Cifuentes with multiple crimes, including conspiracy to manufacture and distribute cocaine, intending, knowing, and having reasonable cause to believe it would be unlawfully imported to the United States. Guatemalan authorities arrested Morales Cifuentes in December 2023 based on a U.S. request for his extradition. Morales Cifuenes is currently awaiting extradition to the United States.
Isel Aneli Suñiga Morfin (Suñiga Morfin) is identified as a leader of the Los Pochos DTO. She is Suñiga Rodriguez’s eldest daughter and a Guatemalan public figure who represented Guatemala as a Miss Universe contestant in 2017. She is married to Morales Cifuentes. Suñiga Morfin is one of several Guatemala-based associates working for Morales Cifuentes and the Los Pochos DTO. In June 2023, Suñiga Morfin was elected as the first female mayor of the municipality of Ayutla, the same position her father held. Suñiga Morfin reportedly uses her political connections to further the Los Pochos DTO. OFAC has reason to believe that Suñiga Morfin owns businesses and bank accounts that she has used for illicit financial activities in support of the Los Pochos DTO.
Erick Manuel Ochoa Villlagran (Ochoa Villagran) is another Guatemala-based narcotics trafficker operating and working for Morales Cifuentes and the Los Pochos DTO. Ochoa Villagran is one of Morales Cifuentes’ primary lieutenants who provides storage for cocaine consignments. Ochoa Villagran was arrested in 2013 in Guatemala on murder charges. On June 10, 2021, a grand jury in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas charged Ochoa Villagran with multiple crimes, including conspiracy to manufacture and distribute cocaine in the United States. Guatemalan authorities arrested Ochoa Villagran in December 2023 based on a U.S request for his extradition, and he is awaiting extradition to the United States.
OFAC designated Morales Cifuentes and Ochoa Villagran pursuant to E.O. 14059 for having engaged in, or attempted to engage in, activities or transactions that have materially contributed to, or pose a significant risk of materially contributing to, the international proliferation of illicit drugs or their means of production. OFAC designated Suñiga Morfin pursuant to E.O. 14059 for being owned, controlled or directed by, or having acted for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, the Los Pochos DTO.
In addition, OFAC designated four entities that are owned or controlled by members of the Los Pochos DTO. Importadora Jireh, a car dealership, and Construhogar, a hardware store, were designated for being owned, controlled, or directed by, or having acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, Morales Cifuentes. WIV Sociedad Anonima, an industrial parking lot, and Condado Real, a real estate company, were designated for being owned, controlled, or directed by, or having acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, Suñiga Morfin. All of the entities designated today are registered in the Guatemalan Department of San Marcos.
SANCTIONS IMPLICATIONS
As a result of today’s action, all property and interests in property of the designated individuals and entities that are in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons must be blocked and reported to OFAC. In addition, any entities that are owned, directly or indirectly, 50 percent or more by one or more blocked persons are also blocked. Unless authorized by a general or specific license issued by OFAC, or exempt, OFAC’s regulations generally prohibit all transactions by U.S. persons or within (or transiting) the United States that involve any property or interests in property of designated or otherwise blocked persons. U.S. persons may face civil or criminal penalties for violations of E.O. 14059 or the Kingpin Act.
Today’s action is part of a whole-of-government effort to counter the global threat posed by the trafficking of illicit drugs into the United States that is causing over 100,000 deaths of Americans annually, as well as countless more non-fatal overdoses. OFAC, in coordination with its U.S. Government partners and foreign counterparts and in support of President Biden’s National Drug Control Strategy, will continue to target and pursue accountability for foreign illicit drug actors. This action demonstrates the Biden-Harris Administration’s strengthened approach to saving lives by disrupting the trafficking of illicit fentanyl and its precursors into American communities. These efforts are part of the Administration’s comprehensive strategy to tackle the nation’s overdose epidemic, which goes after two key drivers of this crisis: untreated addiction and the drug trafficking profits that fuel it. Today’s action will help strengthen public safety by disrupting the illicit drug production and trafficking pipeline that profits by harming Americans. As a key part of the President’s Unity Agenda, the Administration has also made historic investments in critical public health interventions including research, prevention, treatment, and recovery support services.
The power and integrity of OFAC sanctions derive not only from OFAC’s ability to designate and add persons to the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List (SDN List), but also from its willingness to remove persons from the SDN List consistent with the law. The ultimate goal of sanctions is not to punish, but to bring about a positive change in behavior. For information concerning the process for seeking removal from an OFAC list, including the SDN List, please refer to OFAC’s Frequently Asked Question 897 here. For detailed information on the process to submit a request for removal from an OFAC sanctions list, please click here.
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