The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned three entities and two people “illicitly generating revenue” for North Korea. The designations target Chilsong Trading Corp., a North Korean government trading company, and Korea Paekho Trading Corp., a government-controlled company that conducts art and construction projects for “regimes” throughout the Middle East and Africa. OFAC also sanctioned Hwang Kil Su, Pak Hwa Song and their Democratic Republic of the Congo-based company, Congo Aconde SARL, which earns revenue from construction and statue-building projects with local governments.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control updated an existing China-related entry on its Specially Designated Nationals List. The entry is for Hebei Atun Trading Co., a company sanctioned by OFAC in 2021 for its involvement in fentanyl precursor chemical sales and falsifying chemical shipment details.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned Jesus Cisneros Hernandez, a Mexican arms trafficker, for his ties to the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG), a “violent Mexico-based organization” that traffics fentanyl and other drugs that enter the U.S., OFAC said. It said the designation was coordinated with Mexico and noted CJNG was previously sanctioned in 2015.
Canada this week sanctioned 12 senior Iranian military and law enforcement officials who “have participated in gross and systematic human rights violations.” The designations target several members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Law Enforcement Forces, including Seyeh Sadegh Hosseini, an IRGC general, and Rahim Jahanbakhsh, an LEF second brigadier general. Canada said the Iranian government “continues to brutally oppress its people and to deny them their fundamental rights and freedoms.”
Australia joined the U.S. and other G-7 countries (see 2302240028, 2302240025 and 2302240054) in imposing new sanctions against Russia last week, designating an additional 90 people and 40 entities. The new sanctions target Russian ministers overseeing the country’s energy, natural resources, industry, education, labor, migration and health sectors, Australia said, and also officials “perpetuating the Kremlin's mistruths to shore up support for President [Vladimir] Putin.” Australia also said it will provide additional security assistance to Ukraine, including “Uncrewed Aerial Systems,” which “provide a battlefield intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capability for the Ukrainian Armed Forces as they continue to fight.”
One of the “most challenging” aspects of complying with U.S. and Western sanctions against Russia during the past year has been the service restrictions, which has created hurdles for companies trying to understand “exactly what types of activities fall within the scope of the covered services,” Sidley Austin said. In a Feb. 22 alert describing key compliance lessons from one year of Russia sanctions, the law firm said the service restrictions are “broad,” affecting everything from accounting to quantum computing, and not always carried out equally across various sanctions regimes.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week issued new guidance for providing humanitarian aid to sanctioned jurisdictions. The six-page fact sheet describes recently issued or revised general licenses available to international organizations, nongovernmental organizations and others, including what types of activities are allowed and what types of transactions banks can authorize.
The G-7 and the EU last week committed to expanding sanctions against Russia and picking up enforcement efforts to counter Moscow’s sanctions evasion tactics. In a joint statement released Feb. 24, the group’s leaders said they “will maintain, fully implement and expand the economic measures we have already imposed” and establish an “Enforcement Coordination Mechanism to bolster compliance and enforcement of our measures and deny Russia the benefits of G7 economies.”
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week published previously issued general licenses under its Global Magnitsky Sanctions Regulations and Nicaragua Sanctions Regulations. The full text of each license appears in its respective notice.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned a network of people and companies involved in illegal methamphetamine and fentanyl trade, including six Mexican nationals who are members of the Sinaloa Cartel. OFAC also designated six Mexico-based entities with ties to the illegal drug trade.