The U.S. Division of the Treasury has sanctioned 4 Guyanese and two Colombian nationals accused of trafficking tons of cocaine from South America to the US, Europe, and the Caribbean.
The sanctions, announced Thursday, additionally goal a corrupt Guyanese police officer and people allegedly working secret airstrips and utilizing narco-submarines and maritime vessels to move medication throughout worldwide waters.
In keeping with the Treasury’s Workplace of International Belongings Management (OFAC), Guyanese nationals Paul Daby Jr. and Randolph Duncan run two of the most important drug trafficking organizations in Guyana. Daby Jr. is accused of coordinating huge cocaine shipments from Colombia and Venezuela utilizing plane and unlawful airstrips, and of hiding medication in transport containers leaving ports in Guyana and Suriname. He’s additionally allegedly concerned in smuggling unlawful gold. Duncan is alleged to function comparable routes with cocaine destined for Africa, the Caribbean, Europe, and the US.
The sanctions additionally identify former police officer Mark Cromwell, needed by the Guyana Police Power in reference to a 2024 kidnapping. Authorities describe Cromwell as a violent trafficker and shut affiliate of Daby Jr. One other sanctioned determine, legislation enforcement officer Himnauth Sawh, was faraway from his put up as Divisional Commander of Area One in 2024 after 4.4 tons of cocaine have been present in underground bunkers close to the Venezuela border. OFAC says Sawh had been offering secure passage to Colombian and Venezuelan traffickers.
Colombian nationals Yeison Andres Sanchez Vallejo and Manuel Salazar Gutierrez have been designated for managing clandestine airstrips used to maneuver cocaine through plane from Colombia into Guyana.
“At this time’s motion is a powerful sign that this administration will proceed to take the combat to the cartels, no matter the place they’re positioned,” mentioned Treasury Deputy Secretary Michael Faulkender. He emphasised ongoing cooperation with Guyanese authorities and pledged to maintain exposing legal networks fueling drug trafficking into the US.
The designations have been issued below Government Order 14059, which targets people contributing to the worldwide unfold of illicit medication and drug manufacturing. The sanctions block all property and pursuits belonging to the six people inside U.S. jurisdiction and bar American individuals and companies from transacting with them.
Guyana, with its strategic location and long-standing points with corruption, stays a key transit level for South American cocaine. OFAC famous that traffickers routinely exploit the nation’s rivers, ports, and jungles, and that Mexican cartels, together with the Sinaloa Cartel, keep a recognized presence within the area.
U.S. and Guyanese legislation enforcement have made a number of main drug busts in recent times, together with the 2024 seizure of a narco-submarine carrying 2,370 kilograms of cocaine and the invention of a cargo ship in 2025 off Trinidad and Tobago with greater than 180 kilograms of cocaine. Packages on board have been stamped with the Toyota brand — a Sinaloa Cartel trademark.
Thursday’s sanctions intention to freeze property, block help networks, and improve strain on people contributing to the worldwide drug commerce. The U.S. Treasury reiterated that the aim of sanctions will not be merely punitive, however to drive behavioral change and dismantle the programs enabling transnational crime.
