Executive Order--Blocking Property of Transnational Criminal Organizations

The White House
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release
July 25, 2011

Executive Order--Blocking Property of Transnational Criminal Organizations

EXECUTIVE ORDER
BLOCKING PROPERTY OF TRANSNATIONAL CRIMINAL ORGANIZATIONS
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) (IEEPA), the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) (NEA), and section 301 of title 3, United States Code,

I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, find that the activities of significant transnational criminal organizations, such as those listed in the Annex to this order, have reached such scope and gravity that they threaten the stability of international political and economic systems.  Such organizations are becoming increasingly sophisticated and dangerous to the United States; they are increasingly entrenched in the operations of foreign governments and the international financial system, thereby weakening democratic institutions, degrading the rule of law, and undermining economic markets.  These organizations facilitate and aggravate violent civil conflicts and increasingly facilitate the activities of other dangerous persons.  I therefore determine that significant transnational criminal organizations constitute an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States, and hereby declare a national emergency to deal with that threat.

Accordingly, I hereby order:
Section 1.  (a)  All property and interests in property that are in the United States, that hereafter come within the United States, or that are or hereafter come within the possession or control of any United States person, including any overseas branch, of the following persons are blocked and may not be transferred, paid, exported, withdrawn, or otherwise dealt in:
(i)   the persons listed in the Annex to this order and
(ii)  any person determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Attorney General and the Secretary of State:
(A)  to be a foreign person that constitutes a significant transnational criminal organization;
(B)  to have materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of, any person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to this order; or
(C)  to be owned or controlled by, or to have acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, any person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to this order.
(b)  I hereby determine that the making of donations of the types of articles specified in section 203(b)(2) of IEEPA (50 U.S.C. 1702(b)(2)) by, to, or for the benefit of any person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to this order would seriously impair my ability to deal with the national emergency declared in this order, and I hereby prohibit such donations as provided by subsection (a) of this section.
(c)  The prohibitions in subsection (a) of this section include, but are not limited to:
(i)   the making of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services by, to, or for the benefit of any person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to this order; and
(ii)  the receipt of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services from any such person.
(d)  The prohibitions in subsection (a) of this section apply except to the extent provided by statutes, or in regulations, orders, directives, or licenses that may be issued pursuant to this order, and notwithstanding any contract entered into or any license or permit granted prior to the effective date of this order.
Sec. 2.  (a)  Any transaction by a United States person or within the United States that evades or avoids, has the purpose of evading or avoiding, causes a violation of, or attempts to violate any of the prohibitions set forth in this order is prohibited.
(b)  Any conspiracy formed to violate any of the prohibitions set forth in this order is prohibited.
Sec. 3.  For the purposes of this order:
(a)  the term "person" means an individual or entity;
(b)  the term "entity" means a partnership, association, trust, joint venture, corporation, group, subgroup, or other organization;
(c)  the term "United States person" means any United States citizen, permanent resident alien, entity organized under the laws of the United States or any jurisdiction within the United States (including foreign branches), or any person in the United States;
(d)  the term "foreign person" means any citizen or national of a foreign state, or any entity organized under the laws of a foreign state or existing in a foreign state, including any such individual or entity who is also a United States person; and
(e)  the term "significant transnational criminal organization" means a group of persons, such as those listed in the Annex to this order, that includes one or more foreign persons; that engages in an ongoing pattern of serious criminal activity involving the jurisdictions of at least two foreign states; and that threatens the national security, foreign policy, or economy of the United States.
Sec. 4.  For those persons whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to this order who might have a constitutional presence in the United States, I find that because of the ability to transfer funds or other assets instantaneously, prior notice to such persons of measures to be taken pursuant to this order would render these measures ineffectual.  I therefore determine that for these measures to be effective in addressing the national emergency declared in this order, there need be no prior notice of a listing or determination made pursuant to section 1(a) of this order.
Sec. 5.  The Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Attorney General and the Secretary of State, is hereby authorized to take such actions, including the promulgation of rules and regulations, and to employ all powers granted to the President by IEEPA, as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this order.  The Secretary of the Treasury may redelegate any of these functions to other officers and agencies of the United States Government consistent with applicable law.  All agencies of the United States Government are hereby directed to take all appropriate measures within their authority to carry out the provisions of this order.
Sec. 6.  The Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Attorney General and the Secretary of State, is hereby authorized to submit the recurring and final reports to the Congress on the national emergency declared in this order, consistent with section 401(c) of the NEA (50 U.S.C. 1641(c)) and section 204(c) of IEEPA (50 U.S.C. 1703(c)).
Sec. 7.  The Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Attorney General and the Secretary of State, is hereby authorized to determine that circumstances no longer warrant the blocking of the property and interests in property of a person listed in the Annex to this order, and to take necessary action to give effect to that determination.
Sec. 8.  This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.
Sec. 9.  This order is effective at 12:01 a.m. eastern daylight time on July 25, 2011.
BARACK OBAMA
THE WHITE HOUSE,
July 24, 2011.
 
ANNEX
Entities
1. THE BROTHERS’ CIRCLE (f.k.a. FAMILY OF ELEVEN; f.k.a. THE TWENTY)
2. CAMORRA
3. YAKUZA (a.k.a. BORYOKUDAN; a.k.a. GOKUDO)
4. LOS ZETAS

Administration launches new push on global crime
By STEPHEN BRAUN, Associated Press – 2 days ago 

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration announced a broadside of harsh new sanctions against four far-flung criminal cartels on Monday, part of what it said is a coordinated strategy to fight international underworld factions that could harm U.S. interests or security.

A new executive order signed by President Barack Obama outlined a regime of harsh sanctions against so-called transnational criminal groups, blocking any American property interests and freezing their assets, authorizing financial sanctions against anyone aiding them and barring their members from entering the United States.

The order, signed Sunday, authorizes new sanctions against criminal cartels in Mexico, Japan, Italy and Eastern Europe: Los Zetas, a Mexican drug ring linked to multiple murders; the Yakuza, Japan's widespread mob army; the Camorra, a crime network based in southern Italy; and the Brothers' Circle, an Eastern European criminal group operating worldwide.

The new moves come as the administration is animating a long-scattered effort to confront global crime groups suspected of transporting drugs and weapons and enabling terrorist groups. While the U.S. war against terrorist networks has been a clear foreign policy priority since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, its handling of "transnational" crime groups has been uneven at times and fragmented among federal agencies.

In announcing the new moves, Attorney General Eric Holder acknowledged Monday that "the problem of transnational organized crime and their networks is not new." He insisted that a year-long review by administration officials — the first in 15 years — "has strengthened our fight."

A 28-page report outlining the new strategy conceded that "a shift in U.S. intelligence collection priorities since the September 11 2001 attacks left significant gaps" in intelligence aimed at transnational criminal organizations. "The fluid nature" of such groups, which often rely on shell corporations, offshore bank accounts and bases in countries with lax law enforcement, makes targeting them "increasingly difficult," the report warned.

"Transnational criminal organizations have taken advantage of our increasingly interconnected world to expand their illicit enterprises," Obama wrote in the report's foreword.

Under the new strategy, the Justice Department and the FBI would appear to have heightened roles in the government's effort to tackle transnational threats. The National Security Council has long been the lead agency in targeting transnational threats during the Clinton and Bush administrations, and will retain a prime role, helping to oversee combined law enforcement, intelligence and military agencies.

Holder said his department would press to update anti-racketeering laws and extend other statutes to combat money laundering, arms trafficking, cybercrime and intellectual property offenses. David Cohen, who heads the Treasury Department's Terrorism and Financial Intelligence office, said the U.S. would also now target international criminal groups with the same arsenal of financial penalties long used against al-Qaida and other militant groups.

Obama's executive order, Cohen said, allows Treasury to take on international criminal groups by freezing their assets in the U.S. or the American financial system and pursuing criminal charges against anyone cutting business deals with them. Cohen said Treasury would move quickly to use its authority against the four international crime syndicates.

Los Zetas is a narcotic smuggling cartel that dates to the late 1990s and began as a mercenary group aimed at killing rival drug dealers. The group is "responsible for numerous murders," including several of U.S. law enforcement officials, Cohen said. The group had already been designated under Treasury's "drug kingpin" sanctions.

Japan's Yakuza, portrayed in numerous gangland films, has an estimated 80,000 members, officials said. Its narcotics and criminal enterprises are hidden by investments in construction, real estate, finance and other legal businesses.

The Camorra, centered in Naples but spread throughout Italy, earns $25 billion a year in global operations, officials said, in criminal activity ranging from drug trafficking to counterfeiting.

The Brothers' Circle, also known as Moscow Center, is an underworld society spread throughout Russia and former Soviet satellites. Its members are multiethnic, officials said, and conduct a variety of criminal activities in the Middle East, Africa and Latin America.