U.S. sanctions Maduro nephews, six oil shippers
The U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control on Thursday added three of President Nicolás Maduro’s nephews — Franqui Flores, Carlos Flores and Efraín Campo — plus Panamanian businessman Ramón Carretero Napolitano, six firms and six Venezuela‑flagged oil tankers to its sanctions list. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the action targets a regime “flooding the United States with drugs”; Carlos Flores, who was first sanctioned in July 2017 and removed in 2022, and Campo were released in a 2022 prisoner swap after earlier U.S. narcotics convictions. The move followed the prior day’s seizure of a sanctioned oil tanker near Venezuela amid a broader U.S. regional buildup.
📌 Key Facts
- OFAC on Thursday published a sanctions list naming three nephews of Nicolás Maduro — Franqui Flores, Carlos Flores and Efraín Campo — plus Panamanian businessman Ramón Carretero Napolitano, six firms and six Venezuela‑flagged oil tankers.
- The package targets individuals and oil‑shipping entities tied to Maduro’s network and follows the prior day’s seizure of a sanctioned oil tanker near Venezuela amid a broader U.S. regional buildup.
- Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on the record the action is aimed at a regime “flooding the United States with drugs.”
- Carlos Flores was previously sanctioned in July 2017, removed from the U.S. sanctions list in 2022, and has now been re‑sanctioned.
- Carlos Flores and Efraín Campo had earlier U.S. narcotics convictions and were released in a 2022 prisoner swap.
📊 Relevant Data
In 2023, the age-adjusted drug overdose death rate in the United States was 65.0 per 100,000 for non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaska Native people (1% of US population), 48.9 per 100,000 for non-Hispanic Black people (12% of US population), 33.1 per 100,000 for non-Hispanic White people (58% of US population), 22.8 per 100,000 for Hispanic people (19% of US population), 26.2 per 100,000 for non-Hispanic Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander people (0.2% of US population), and 5.1 per 100,000 for non-Hispanic Asian people (6% of US population).
In March 2020, the US Justice Department indicted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and senior officials for narco-terrorism, accusing them of corrupting state institutions to facilitate the shipment of tons of cocaine to the United States through the Cartel of the Suns, a network within Venezuela’s armed forces involved in drug trafficking.
Cartel of the Suns — InSight Crime
According to the 2025 National Drug Threat Assessment, Mexican transnational criminal organizations are the primary producers and traffickers of fentanyl into the United States, with no mentions of Venezuela as a source of fentanyl or major drug threats from Venezuelan entities beyond small-scale activities by Tren de Aragua.
2025 National Drug Threat Assessment — DEA.gov
📰 Sources (2)
- OFAC formally published the new sanctions list Thursday naming the three nephews (Franqui Flores, Carlos Flores, Efraín Campo), Panamanian businessman Ramón Carretero Napolitano, six firms, and six Venezuela-flagged ships.
- Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s on-the-record quote framing the action as targeting a regime 'flooding the United States with drugs.'
- Context that Carlos Flores was previously sanctioned in July 2017 and removed from the list in 2022, now re-sanctioned.
- Background noting Flores and Campo were released in a 2022 prisoner swap after earlier U.S. narcotics convictions.
- Links the sanctions to the prior day’s seizure of a sanctioned oil tanker near Venezuela amid a broader U.S. regional buildup.