(Archived Content)
American Home Products has paid the Treasury Department $2.5 million to settle charges levied against two of its wholly-owned U.S. subsidiaries, Wyeth-Ayerst International, Inc. and Whitehall International Inc. Acting through their Colombian branches and affiliates, these subsidiaries engaged in unlicensed sales prohibited transactions with entities determined designated by Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) to be as Specially Designated Narcotics Traffickers (SDNTs).
The alleged transactions were with the SDNT front company, Drogas la Rebaja, and other affiliated SDNT businesses. Drogas la Rebaja, now also known as Copservir, is a Colombian drugstore chain named to OFAC's list of SDNTs in October 1995. Drogas la Rebaja and the other involved SDNT businesses are owned or controlled by Colombia's Cali drug cartel leaders, Gilberto and Miguel Rodriguez Orejuela. This is the largest civil settlement ever received by OFAC under the SDNT program.
OFAC enforces the IEEPA these narcotics trafficking sanctions under Executive Order 12978 and 31 CFR Part 536. The principal tool for implementing the sanctions is OFAC's list of SDNTs which was developed by OFAC in close consultation with both the Justice Department and the State Department. The objectives of the SDNT program are to identify, expose, isolate and incapacitate the businesses and agents of the Colombian drug cartels by denying them access to the U.S. financial system and to the benefits of trade and transactions involving U.S. businesses and individuals. Since the inception of the SDNT program in October 1995, OFAC has issued 12 lists and identified 578 businesses and individuals as SDNTs. This list consists of 10 Colombian drug cartel leaders, 231 businesses and 337 other individuals.
Violations of our sanctions programs against foreign narcotics traffickers and those who provide them with material support are taken very seriously and violators must understand that they will pay a penalty, said OFAC Director Richard Newcomb.
Engaging in any unlicensed unauthorized transaction with an SDNT is a violation of U.S. law and all United States persons should be cautioned accordingly, added Director Newcomb.
In announcing the settlement, Director Newcomb recognized the U.S. Customs Service for its efforts in investigating the alleged unlicensed transactions that resulted in the precedent setting settlement.