US imposes sanctions on Colombian drug trafficker

The Obama administration on Wednesday slapped sanctions on a Colombian drug trafficker linked to the largest rebel group in the South American nation. The U.S. Department of the Treasury targeted Jose Evaristo Linares Castillo for leading a Villavicencio, Colombia-based drug trafficking organization that oversees the manufacturing and air smuggling of thousands of kilograms of cocaine from Colombia and Venezuela into Mexico and the United States. Through his partnership with the Armed Revolutionary Forces of Colombia (FARC), the largest rebel group in the country branded as a narco-terrorist organization by Washington, and previous relationships with major Colombian traffickers Daniel Barrera Barrera and Pedro Oliveiro Guerrero Castillo, Castillo has become one of the largest cocaine sources for drug-laden aircraft departing from Apure, Venezuela to Central America, Treasury said in a statement. The drug loads are then transported into Mexico for further distribution to Mexican drug trafficking groups like Los Zetas and the Sinaloa Cartel, according to the statement. "The Linares Castillo organization is a significant source of supply for multiple violent drug cartels that exploit vulnerable Central American countries as key transit points for the shipment of narcotics into Mexico for further distribution into the United States," said Adam Szubin, director of Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control. "We continue to aggressively target key transporters and logistic coordinators for one of the most strategic drug routes between Central and South America," he added. Castillo was arrested by Colombian authorities in May 2012 and is pending extradition to the United States, the Treasury Department said. Since June 2000, successive U.S. presidents have identified 97 drug kingpins worldwide and the U.S. Treasury has blacklisted more than 1,200 businesses and individuals.