US Treasury sanctions powerful Mexican cartel, Yellen says they intend to make business 'very difficult'

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Janet Yellen: This was one of the most 'vicious' Mexican drug cartels responsible for trafficking fentanyl

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen discusses responding to the drug crisis and the high cost of living on 'Your World.'

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen addressed steps the Biden administration is taking to crack down on fentanyl and drug trafficking into the United States Thursday on "Your World."

Yellen told Fox News anchor Neil Cavuto that the Treasury Department, along with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and U.S. attorneys in Atlanta, levied sanctions on eight individuals affiliated with the La Nueva Familia Michoacana drug cartel. 

La Nueva Familia Michoacana, one of Mexico’s most violent and powerful cartels, is accused of human smuggling as well as trafficking fentanyl, cocaine and methamphetamine into the United States, according to a press release from the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control. 

Hundreds of pounds of fentanyl and meth seized near Ensenada in October arrive for officials from Mexicos attorney generals office to be unloaded at their headquarter in Tijuana, Mexico, Tuesday, October 18, 2022. (Salwan Georges/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

"We intend through these actions to try to cut them off, to make their business very difficult or impossible by cutting them off from the U.S. financial system and the dollar," Yellen said. 

She addressed concerns that cryptocurrency is used as a form of revenue for some cartels, saying its use "remains a small portion of the activity that finances drug trafficking."

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The Treasury Department says that in the past two years it has sanctioned more than 250 individuals for their alleged involvement in drug trafficking activities from transportation networks to chemical suppliers. 

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Cavuto asked why steps weren’t taken sooner to freeze the funding available to drug cartels. 

"Well, we've been working jointly with our law enforcement colleagues and also productively with the government of Mexico to amass the information necessary to bring these actions forward, and our work with Mexico has intensified over the last several years," Yellen responded. "We've had very good cooperation with Mexico."

She added that she expects the United States to have a productive relationship with incoming Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum. 

Fentanyl, a deadly synthetic opioid, is 50 times more potent than heroin and 100 times more potent than morphine, according to the DEA.

Fentanyl seized in Nogales, Arizona. Border agents and officers seized more than 1,900 pounds of the illicit drug in October. (CBP)

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that on average, 115 Americans die every day from an opioid overdose. 

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Yellen said fentanyl and other synthetic opioids have killed more than 1 million people since 2000. 

Adolescent overdose deaths involving fentanyl increase (Fox News/Joy Addison)

"It's a human tragedy, and it's a top priority of President Biden to try to address that, and it's an all-of-government effort. We each have a role to play. Homeland Security plays a role, DEA, law enforcement. Treasury's unique capacity with respect to narcotic trafficking has to do with the money channels," she added. 

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"Drug-trafficking organizations or businesses — they need to receive money to invest the proceeds of their illegal activities to make payments, and we have the ability to shut them off from the dollar-based financial system. So that's our specialty and where we come into the picture. We work with other agencies."