Venezuelan Minister charged with violating US sanctions

Tareck El Aissami, the former Vice President of Venezuela and current Minister of Industry and National Production, has been charged with violating the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act (“Kingpin Act”) and circumventing US sanctions.

In February 2017, Mr El Aissami and his business partner Samark Jose Lopez Bello were designated as Specially Designated Narcotics Traffickers under the Kingpin Act. See previous post. They have been charged with evading US sanctions by “employing US companies to provide international transport via private jet” to set up meetings in Russia and Turkey. See Immigration and Custom Enforcement Press Release. 7 others have also been charged with violating the Kingpin Act and US sanctions by (inter alia) providing travel services to and engaging in transactions with Mr El Aissami and Mr Lopez Bello.