US Sanctions 3 Members of the Northeast Cartel… and a Famous Rapper from Tamaulipas

The U.S. Department of the Treasury announced today a new series of sanctions through the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) against three leaders and one associate of the Cartel del Noreste, the criminal organization formerly known as Los Zetas, which Washington now considers a Foreign Terrorist Organization.

According to the United States, the Cartel del Noreste currently operates in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, and Piedras Negras, Coahuila, and its networks impact communities on both sides of the U.S. border, engaging in drug trafficking such as fentanyl, methamphetamine, heroin, marijuana, cocaine, as well as human trafficking, extortion, arms trafficking, and kidnapping.

The sanctioned individuals are Abdon Federico Rodríguez García, alias Chucho, accused of being second-in-command within the Northeast Cartel, leading drug trafficking, money laundering, fuel theft, and extortion operations, as well as ordering executions on behalf of the criminal network. According to the Treasury, he was arrested in 2013 along with the then leader of Los Zetas, Miguel Ángel Treviño Morales, and has been a member of the criminal network ever since.

Antonio Romero Sánchez, alias Romeo, is identified as the leader of the organization’s operations in Piedras Negras, Coahuila, and Ciudad Victoria, Tamaulipas. He was a state police officer and is now linked to murders and beheadings, as well as the attempted assassination of a Nuevo Laredo government official in 2025.

Francisco Daniel Esqueda Nieto, known as Franky Esqueda or Franky de la Joya, has been identified since this year as the cartel’s head of tactical operations in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, but has been involved with the organization since before, when they were known as Los Zetas. He is accused of being involved in an attack on a Mexican soldier and leading an attack on a Defense Ministry helicopter during the arrest of cartel leader Ricardo González Sauceda in early February.

Finally, Ricardo Hernández Medrano, alias El Makiabelico or Comando Exclusivo, a rapper who sings music for drug traffickers and is now accused of associating with the Northeast Cartel, was sanctioned. “Hernández’s concerts and events are used to launder money on behalf of the organization, with 50 percent of his profits from streaming platforms going directly to the group,” the Treasury stated.

According to OFAC, the Cartel del Noreste relies on these alternative sources of income to fuel its criminal activities, in addition to its traditional ones. The OFAC noted that the financial sanction means that all assets and resources of those individuals on US soil are frozen, and no US citizen can have financial dealings with them.

The Treasury also noted that last June, the US immigration agency, ICE, arrested 72 migrants and seized cash, drugs, and firearms at a nightclub owned by the Cartel del Noreste in South Carolina.

As also reported by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the cartel uses commercial buses in Mexico to traffic migrants to the United States, who are sometimes victims of kidnapping or exploitation. “The CDN utilizes drug distribution centers in the state of Texas and its associates, facilitators, and affiliates throughout Texas, Oklahoma, Georgia, and the Midwest,” Washington noted.

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