Top US Treasury Secretary to Visit Colombia and Mexico This Week

A senior U.S. Treasury official is traveling to Colombia and Mexico this week, a Treasury official told Reuters, as the United States seeks to combat money laundering and the smuggling of fentanyl into the country.

The trip by Lisa Palluconi, acting director of the Office of Foreign Assets Control, was first reported by Reuters and comes as the United States seeks to combat the U.S. fentanyl crisis, including through sanctions.

The official said Palluconi’s meetings in Mexico City will focus on the deadly narcotic, which is smuggled into the United States, often through the porous U.S.-Mexico border, and can be easily produced using chemicals sourced from China.

Fentanyl overdoses are now the leading cause of death among Americans between the ages of 18 and 45. In 2023, more than 107,000 Americans died from drug overdoses.

The Treasury official said the department is working closely with Mexican authorities on sanctions, including measures earlier this month targeting a network accused of generating millions of dollars for the Jalisco Nueva Generacion cartel, which the cartel says is responsible for a significant portion of the fentanyl and other drugs smuggled into the United States.

Palluconi will attend an event organized by the Association of Bankers in Mexico, focusing on protecting the integrity of the U.S. and Mexican financial systems, as well as economic prosperity and the implementation of sanctions.

During his stay in Bogota, Palluconi will deliver a keynote speech at the second U.S.-Colombia Joint Summit on Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Compliance, the official said, adding that the U.S. and Colombia have worked together since the 1990s on numerous sanctions measures targeting major criminals, cartels and their networks.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury is seen in Washington, DC, U.S., August 30, 2020. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/File photo