- 2 years ago
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen announces a new initiative to counter fentanyl smuggling.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Mexico. Investigation further revealed that Maldonado Bustos allegedly supplied
00:05Camacho Gokachoa and other conspirators in Mexico with the heroin to import into
00:11cities into the United States including the Atlanta metro area. Investigation
00:17further revealed that Camacho Gokachoa coordinated the collection and return of
00:23proceeds from the United States back to Mexico. In fact, agent seized over half a
00:29million dollars in drug proceeds right here in vehicles and homes in the
00:33Atlanta area, which were ultimately destined for the cartel in Mexico.
00:38In addition to the in doubt, the indictments announced today against
00:42these Mexico based leaders, our office and law enforcement partners have
00:46investigated and prosecuted traffickers associated with lot new wave of familiar
00:51cartel operating here in the northern district of Georgia. Today's
00:56announcements of sanctions plays a critical role in holding the cartel
00:59accountable, sending a strong message that the agencies of the federal
01:03government will work closely together to seize the assets and cut off the
01:07financial resources of traffickers that operate in our district and in the
01:12United States. We are grateful for the collaboration and partnerships with
01:17Department of the Treasury with OFAC, D. A. R. S. And others in the fight to
01:23protect our citizens by prosecuting Mexico based leadership of lot in the
01:28way of a familiar and cartel members operating in our district as well. We
01:34will continue to attack the financial motivation motivation of this cartel as
01:39they send their poison into our communities. Thank you.
01:51Okay,
01:54good morning. Special agent in charge. Robert Murphy of D. A. Atlanta. Welcome
01:58Treasury Secretary Ellen. Appreciate you. Welcome to D. A. Atlanta. So
02:03new La Familia. That's what we're here to discuss. Some actions being taken
02:07again. Not new to us here in D. A. Atlanta. La Familia originated about
02:112000 and seven from 2000 and seven to 2000 and 10. La Familia was one of the
02:15largest drug trafficking organizations impacting the United States. D. A. And
02:20it's law enforcement partners attacked that organization used every tool
02:24available. They and we're able to crush them. They rebranded themselves. Uh, at
02:29the time, La Familia was ran by Nazario Moreno Gonzalez and his brother,
02:35Roberto Moreno Gonzalez, who ran operations in Atlanta.
02:39They rebranded themselves, tried to refer to themselves as Knights of the
02:44Templar.
02:45Uh, Nazario Moreno Gonzalez, founder and originator of La Familia, created
02:53kind of a cult, created his own Bible and, uh,
02:58had everyone strictly adhere to it. They were known for not only the amount of
03:02drugs they were bringing into the U. S. But the propensity and the willingness
03:04to use violence, very violent organization. Throughout our efforts,
03:08we were able to successfully
03:10destroy all their operations in the United States. They went back to Mexico.
03:14Hadn't heard from in a while. 2021 D. A. Atlanta developed intelligence that
03:19La Familia knew the new La Familia saw an opportunity.
03:24They wrongly miscalculated that D. A. Was hyper focused on Sinaloa and C. J.
03:30And G. Which obviously we were. They are the biggest cartels impact the United
03:33States. So they saw an opportunity to re to re establish their trafficking here
03:39in the United States, with Atlanta being a major hub for them.
03:45We target those
03:48members here operating in Atlanta. That's organizations responsible for
03:52over 12 tons of methamphetamine into the United States. Equal amount of
03:57fentanyl and heroin,
03:59several tons of cocaine.
04:03And again, obviously, the amount of money that was being generated from
04:06that profit. Just here in Atlanta alone, we seized over 600 kilos of
04:09cocaine. I'm sorry of methamphetamine, several kilos of cocaine, 11,000
04:14fentanyl pills just from the operations in here. We're able to get 13
04:17indictments, eight people arrested today and more to come. But more
04:21importantly, when D. A. Targets these organizations, we use every tool
04:25available to us. And one of the most powerful things we can do is deny them
04:30the fruits of their labor, the blood, the very the very essence of what these
04:35cartels need their money.
04:37And with the tools that Secretary Ellen's gonna talk about today, we're
04:40able to make sure that we were successful in all that. We've not only
04:44there's a twofold purpose, not only to deny them to sit back and enjoy the
04:48fruits of their label of distributing poison in our communities. Obviously,
04:51we don't want that. But on the second front, we don't want them to use that
04:56money to make them stronger, have a bigger impact in the United States and
05:00harder for law enforcement to deal. We were successful on both fronts, and I'm
05:04happy to hear today to say that this is going to do a deal of fatal blow to
05:10this cartels. We're going to operations here, not only in Atlanta, but United
05:13States and their willingness to be able to be effective at all as a cartel in
05:18the United in the United States.
05:26Good morning. My name is Demetrius Hardeman, special agent in charge,
05:30Atlanta Field Office, I. R. S. Criminal Investigation. As my cohorts have
05:35already stated, we have worked together for today's actions. We at I. R. S.
05:40Criminal Investigation are here to take out the financial structures, and that
05:44is our part in dealing with drug traffickers in the United States. I'm
05:49thrilled to be here today to introduce Secretary of Treasury Janet Yellen, and
05:54I'd like to begin by saying welcome to the great city of Atlanta. Our purpose
05:57here today is twofold. First, we're here to exchange information and
06:01continue to deepen our collaboration. And secondly, we want to continue to
06:05expand on our existing partnerships between the Treasury Department, federal
06:10state and local law enforcement, the United States Attorney's Office, as well
06:15as our partners in the banking industry. The fight against fentanyl trafficking
06:19requires an all hands approach, with each partner leveraging their unique
06:23authorities and resources in the joint effort to protect our communities. Late
06:28last year, Secretary Yellen launched a counter fentanyl strike force chaired
06:32by I. R. S. Criminal Investigation in the Treasury Office of Terrorism and
06:37Financial Intelligence, bringing together resources across the department
06:41to combat the flow of illicit fentanyl into our communities. Following the
06:46money is essential to combating crimes like fentanyl trafficking, and it is
06:52what I. R. S. Criminal Investigation special agents do best
06:56with Secretary Ellen's deep commitment to providing resources and platforms in
07:01collaboration like this one. Our work will continue to no doubt stem the flow
07:06of these drugs into our streets. Without further ado, I'd like to welcome
07:09Secretary Yellen to the podium. Thank you.
07:12Thank you and good morning. I'm here in Atlanta today with the Drug Enforcement
07:24Administration and the U. S. Attorney's Office to announce two important
07:29actions we're taking to combat the opioid crisis. First, Treasury's Office
07:36of Foreign Assets Control has sanctioned eight targets affiliated
07:42with La Nueva Familia Michoacana, a notorious Mexican criminal organization
07:49that traffics fentanyl and other legal drugs into the United States, including
07:55in Georgia. Second, Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network has issued
08:03in new advisory for financial institutions to help them detect
08:08financial flows that fuel the illicit fentanyl supply chain. This is critical
08:15to enabling law enforcement and sanctions actions against fentanyl
08:20traffickers. Let me further explain why these actions matter and put them in
08:26the context of President Biden's and Treasury's broader counter narcotic
08:31strategy. Since 2000, more than a million people in the United States have
08:38died of drug overdoses. Hundreds of thousands more Americans could die from
08:45drug overdoses by the end of this decade, and fentanyl and other synthetic
08:51opioids make up the significant majority of drug related deaths. Here in
08:58Georgia, overdose deaths involving fentanyl increased by over 200% between
09:042019 and 2021, and this is simply a staggering, almost unimaginable toll. Far
09:14too many families and communities across the United States are losing their loved
09:19ones to opioids. And while this is first and foremost a heartbreaking personal
09:26loss, it's also a loss for our country. The U.S. Joint Economic Committee
09:32estimates that the opioid epidemic cost America nearly one and a half trillion
09:38dollars in 2020. And that's why President Biden has directed the entire U.S.
09:46government to use every tool at our disposal to combat the opioid epidemic
09:52and save lives. It's a priority of the president's unity agenda. The
09:59administration has expanded treatment for Americans across the United States,
10:05including by increasing access to life-saving medication. The president has
10:11also bolstered law enforcement capabilities at and within our borders,
10:17such as by adding more drug detection machines at points of entry. U.S. law
10:25enforcement has seized more fentanyl at ports of entry in the past two years
10:30than in the previous five years combined. And as we look ahead, the president's
10:37budget would allow us to strengthen these efforts, including by putting in
10:42place a hundred additional cutting-edge inspection machines to help detect
10:48fentanyl. We're also engaging with our foreign partners. Last July, President
10:55Biden launched the Global Coalition to Address Synthetic Drug Threats. That
11:02brings together more than a hundred countries and 11 international
11:06organizations. And counter-narcotics is a focus in our bilateral relations,
11:18including with China, the key source of the pre-culture fentanyl. Xi agreed to
11:25resume cooperation on counter-narcotics last year, and Treasury plays an active
11:32and important role in the newly established counter-narcotics working
11:37group. And I've also raised this issue directly with my Chinese counterparts.
11:42And one of the outcomes of my trip to China in April was agreeing to deeper
11:49cooperation in fighting money laundering, which will help us crack down on
11:54narcotics trafficking. Collaboration with Mexico is also crucial. As I saw
12:01firsthand when I traveled to Mexico in December and announced sanctions
12:07against the Beltran labor organization, our joint efforts span specific actions
12:14to broader work to develop financial flow typologies. Treasury is committed to
12:21sharing more information, including with financial institutions on both sides of
12:28the border. And we will emphasize the need for even greater cooperation as we
12:36engage with President Xi Jinping. Our work with partners and at home is rooted in
12:42the understanding that cartels that peddle fentanyl operate in many respects
12:49like other businesses. They rely on access to banking systems and to the U.S.
12:55dollar to make payroll and finance purchases. And this means the Treasury
13:01Department has a unique ability to disrupt and degrade their operations.
13:06We're particularly focused on two areas related to today's actions, sanctions and
13:14partnerships with financial institutions. Treasury's sanctions target kingpins in
13:22their support networks who seek to exploit our financial system to traffic
13:28narcotics. In executive order, strengthen our ability to go after drug trafficking
13:38organizations, their enablers, and their financial facilities. Nobody has sanctioned
13:44more than 250 targets for involvement in drug trafficking
13:50activities. In recent months, this has included targeting Mexican individuals
13:57and entities linked to the most notorious Mexican cartels from CJNG to
14:05the Sinaloa cartel. Today's action advances our efforts by targeting high
14:12level leaders of a cartel that traffics drugs across our border to Dallas, Houston,
14:20and then farther afield to Chicago, Charlotte, and to right here in Atlanta.
14:28La Nueva Familia Michoacana is also involved in smuggling migrants from
14:34Mexico to the United States.
14:46The leaders we're targeting have carried out heinous from arms trafficking, money
14:52laundering, those designated have been including on charges of heroin
14:57conspiracy and money laundering. Our sanctions will cut off the cartel
15:03leaders from their ill-gotten money and make it harder for them to bring deadly
15:08fentanyl to our streets. Our ability to carry out these sanctions, these sanction
15:16actions, and other actions is supported by our engagement with the private sector.
15:22We know that narco-trafficking organizations, including major cartels,
15:29rely on anonymous corporate structures, shell companies, to launder and stash
15:36their profits. So we're taking systematic action to stop this. As part of our
15:43implementation of the bipartisan Corporate Transparency Act, we now
15:50require many companies to report basic information about who owns or controls
15:57them. That's information we can then use to combat illicit finance. We're also
16:05partnering with financial institutions to support their crucial role in
16:10flagging potentially illegal activity. Last month, Treasury's Financial Crimes
16:17Enforcement Network, FinCEN, in partnership with IRS Criminal
16:22Investigation, began a new series of public-private information sharing
16:28exchanges that bring together law enforcement and regional and local banks
16:35to share information on tracking illicit financial flows. That includes
16:42indicators of fentanyl-related activity. We plan to reach 10 cities across the
16:49United States by the end of this year, and I look forward to meeting this
16:55afternoon with law enforcement and financial institutions to deepen similar
17:01cooperation. The advisory I'm announcing today is another important step. It
17:08provides information and guidance to help financial institutions identify and
17:14report suspicious transactions related to the procurement of precursor
17:21chemicals and manufacturing equipment used to manufacture illicit fentanyl and
17:27other synthetic opioids. This allows us to follow the money behind the illicit
17:34fentanyl supply chain and go after the criminals perpetrating and profiting off
17:40of the opioid epidemic.
17:44So, combating the trafficking of fentanyl is a significant challenge and something that
17:51will not be solved overnight. Let me be clear, the President and I will do
18:03everything we can to combat this crisis. Treasury's newly established will help us
18:09co-operate efforts and make sure we're leveraged. We'll continue to work with
18:14partners at home and abroad, and we will deploy all the tools at our disposal to
18:21keep Americans safe, to strengthen our economy, and to protect our financial
18:26system. So, thank you so much to DEA for your hard work, deep expertise, and
18:33collaboration, and thank you to all of you for being here to mark today's
18:38milestone.
18:43For questions, I call on you. Grady in the back has a microphone, so he'll bring
18:48that to you. Our first question will go to Chris Condon with Bloomberg.
18:58Thank you very much, and good morning, Secretary Yellen. With due respect to
19:02this very important topic, I would like to ask two-part question about separate
19:07topic that is a lot of getting a lot of attention in Washington these days, and
19:11that is tariffs. First of all, I'm wondering if you agree with the
19:15assessment from your predecessor, Larry Summers, that the proposals from former
19:20President Trump for imposing across-the-board 10% tariffs would be
19:24stagflationary. And then second, on Trump tariff – excuse me, Biden administration
19:31tariff policies, you said two years ago when the administration was assessing
19:35the tariffs put in place in 2018 and 2019, that some of those – and I'll quote you –
19:42impose more harm on U.S. consumers and businesses and aren't very strategic in
19:48the sense of addressing real issues we have with China. So I'm wondering when
19:52President Biden added to the China tariffs last month, why did the
19:59administration not remove some of the prior tariffs that you clearly were not
20:05comfortable with? Thank you. So the tariffs that we put in place against
20:10China I do believe are highly strategic. They're targeted at areas that China is
20:20investing very heavily in to the point where they have caused huge overcapacity.
20:30And I mean that in areas like electric batteries, solar panels, and other things
20:40related to clean energy and to some extent to semiconductor. Total product
20:45capacity in China exceeds global demand, and we really refuse to let our companies in
20:53this strategic, important, burgeoning sector that are critical to creating
21:01good jobs in America and to addressing the climate crisis, we refuse to allow
21:07them to be put out of business by dumping by Chinese, by a coordinated
21:15Chinese effort. And we're not the only country who feel that way. I would point
21:22out that in the G7 summit recent leaders statement, all of the G7 leaders
21:32acknowledged issues with overcapacity that threaten our domestic industries. So
21:41with respect to the existing tariffs that were not removed, I guess we, I would
21:48say that we see those as, we see that China has not responded by removing, you
22:01know, these were tariffs that were put in place because of unfair trade
22:08practices that China was found guilty of in the 301 action. And given that China
22:16has not done anything really to address those concerns, we thought it was
22:22inappropriate to remove, remove those tariffs. In connection with the Trump, the
22:31Trump tariffs, these are really across-the-board tariffs, as I
22:37understand it, that would affect all of our trade partners and all of our trade.
22:42And I believe that is a substantial enough program that it would both raise
22:51cost to consumers broadly on all the imports they buy and harm American
22:56businesses, many of whom rely on imported goods to, for their supply chains, it
23:05would significantly raise their costs. All right, next we're going to go to Rich
23:09from Reuters. Madam Secretary, I have a question related to Russian President
23:20Putin's visit to Vietnam. How concerned are you about all the agreements they
23:25signed on oil, gas, and nuclear? Does this cause you to rethink U.S., the U.S.
23:31strategy to draw Vietnam closer as a friend-shoring destination for supply
23:36chains? Does it impact Vietnam's push to be recognized as a market economy? So,
23:44Vietnam is a country with whom we have deepened our economic relationship.
23:51President Biden visited Vietnam last year and we've upgraded our relationship.
23:57You're right that we do see Vietnam as a country that could be part of our
24:07friend-shoring in our effort to diversify supply. Now, Vietnam has a
24:15policy and strategy of working collaboratively with many different
24:22countries and it is not a condition of our partnership that they sever their
24:29ties to Russia or to China. And we do, we are concerned about emissions and
24:38lowering emissions and addressing greenhouse gases in Vietnam. We are part
24:47of a, it's called the JETP, Just Energy Transition Partnership with Vietnam in
24:54which we're working collaboratively to lower emissions. So, I don't know the
25:00details of all of what you described as an agreement with President Putin, but
25:06Vietnam has announced as an objective lowering their emissions over time and
25:14we're working to help provide financing for that. Next, let's go to Sarah with GPB.
25:24Secretary Yellen, thank you for being here. Can you talk a little bit about the
25:27importance of holding these announcements here in Atlanta? I'm sorry,
25:31you've what? Can you talk a little bit about the importance of holding these
25:35two announcements here in Atlanta? Yes, I mean, Atlanta, like other parts of the
25:42country, but in some cases even more so, fentanyl and the opioid crisis, this is
25:51very real and it affects many families, an increasing number here in Georgia. And
25:57it is a port through which synthetic opioids are transported and is part of
26:08the drug trafficking. And we've worked very closely here, as you heard, with DEA
26:16and the Department of Justice. This has been a joint activity and also working
26:23jointly with Mexico to put in place these enforcement actions. And our last
26:33question will go to Karis. Am I saying that right? Hi, Karis Belger, 11 Alive News.
26:40Thank you. Secretary Yellen, first, thank you for being here. I have a question
26:45more about the economy domestically. Overall, inflation has gone down, but the
26:51average American is still struggling with everyday goods. I know here I've
26:54reported frequently on how the average person is supplementing their household
26:59food groceries with visits to the food bank. What do you say to those people
27:03who are not seeing the benefits of Biden's economic policy and every day
27:07are still trying to make ends meet? Well, I think the problems with Americans
27:14feeling that there are necessities of life that are just becoming unaffordable
27:20really date back some way. But the price increases that occurred during the
27:26pandemic made matters worse. And President Biden understands the
27:32struggles that American households face. Their affordable housing is
27:39extremely hard to find, limited in supply. President Biden has taken a
27:47number of steps to address that. We consider it a critical priority to
27:53increase the supply of affordable housing, health care. President Biden's
27:59worked hard to make sure for seniors that to limit copays on insulin to $35
28:07and to limit overall copays that seniors face who were part of Medicare
28:15and working to lower on a permanent basis, keep low the premiums for the
28:24Affordable Care Act. Child care is becoming unaffordable for so many
28:29Americans. President Biden has proposed ways to address that as well. President
28:36Biden wants to cut taxes for hardworking families. During the
28:42pandemic, we had in place a child tax credit so that a family with two
28:50Children under the age of 16 were receiving typically $600 on a monthly
28:58basis to help with expenses. And we saw the biggest reduction in the poverty
29:03rate by almost 50% is a consequence. So President Biden has made
29:10affordability his top priority. He's obviously taken steps in education for
29:17giving, um, student loans and other things and, um, trying to make sure
29:24that working families can, um, afford a decent standard of living really is a
29:31top priority.
29:34All right. Thank you, everybody. Thanks for coming.
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