WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The U.S. government has announced new sanctions targeting Venezuelan oil, including shipping companies and vessels supporting President Nicolas Maduro's regime.
The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control, or OFAC, imposed sanctions on three nephews of Maduro's wife, Cilia Flores; a Maduro-affiliated businessman; and six shipping companies operating in Venezuela's oil sector. Additionally, OFAC has aso targeted six vessels that have engaged in deceptive and unsafe shipping practices and continue to provide financial resources that fuel Maduro's regime.
Two of Cilia Flores' nephews designated Thursday - Efrain Antonio Campo Flores and Franqui Francisco Flores de Freitas - are narco-traffickers operating in Venezuela. In November 2015, they were arrested in Haiti as they were finalizing a deal to transport hundreds of kilograms of cocaine to the United States, but were granted clemency years later by President Joe Biden. Campo and Flores de Freitas returned to Venezuela and have continued their drug trafficking activities, The Treasurt said in a press release.
Carlos Erik Malpica Flores, the third of Cilia Flores' nephews, is a former national treasurer of Venezuela and vice president of state-owned oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela, SA. He was designated in July 2017 but removed from OFAC's blacklist by the Biden administration.
Also targeted is Ramon Carretero Napolitano, a Panamanian businessman who has facilitated shipments of petroleum products on behalf of the Venezuelan government.
'Nicolas Maduro and his criminal associates in Venezuela are flooding the United States with drugs that are poisoning the American people,' said Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent.
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