WASHINGTON, May 24 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Treasury Department on Wednesday blacklisted a major Mexican drug trafficking group and its leader Jose Luis Ruelas Torres.
The Ruelas Torres Drug Trafficking Organization is a family-based, independent opium and heroin production and distribution organization that smuggles heroin quantities into the U.S., the Treasury Department said in a statement.
Ten key associates of the group are also designated. As a result of the action, all assets of those designated that are based in the United States or that are in the control of U.S. persons are frozen, and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with them.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the U.S. and the Mexican government "are committed to exposing, disrupting, and dismantling these criminal networks."
