OFAC Targets Dominican Drug Trafficker
The Office of Foreign Assets Control designated Jose Calderon Rijo, leader of a Dominican Republic-based criminal organization, for engaging in major drug trafficking, according to a Dec. 14 news release. In addition to drug trafficking, Rijo's organization allegedly engages in money laundering and public corruption. The organization directly controls several drug trafficking routes into the U.S. and is "one of the most prolific drug trafficking organizations in the Caribbean," OFAC said. Calderon Rijo was arrested and charged with drug trafficking offenses by Dominican Republic law enforcement authorities in 2012 but continued to oversee the organization from prison. In September, a grand jury in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida charged him with multiple drug trafficking offenses.
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“Calderon Rijo leads one of the most significant criminal organizations in the Dominican Republic, which poses a major drug trafficking threat to the Caribbean region and the United States,” said Brian Nelson, Treasury undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence. “Treasury will continue to sanction those who enable the flow of deadly narcotics to the United States.”