WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration on Tuesday imposed sanctions on 13 members of Mexico’s powerful Sinaloa cartel and four Sonora, Mexico-based firms accused of trafficking fentanyl and other drugs into the United States.

The latest action follows a series of measures taken this year against members of the Sinaloa cartel, cash couriers and cartel fraud schemes.

Included in the sanctions are a manager of cartel operations in Nogales who oversaw the trafficking of multi-ton quantities of drugs, authorities said, as well as members of his family and his associates. Also sanctioned are a restaurant, stone and mining companies and an import-export firm.

The sanctions cut them off from the U.S. banking system, cut off their ability to work with Americans and block their U.S. assets.

The Treasury Department’s undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, Brian Nelson, said that the U.S. “will aggressively pursue all who are complicit operators and facilitators of these illicit fentanyl networks.”

The Treasury “will continue to use its authorities to expose and isolate those who profit from deadly fentanyl sales in the United States,” Nelson said.

Fentanyl, a powerful opioid, is the deadliest drug in the U.S. today.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that drug overdose deaths increased more than sevenfold from 2015 to 2021. More than 100,000 deaths a year have been linked to drug overdoses since 2020, and about two-thirds of those are related to fentanyl.

Mexico and China are the primary sources for fentanyl and fentanyl-related substances trafficked directly into the U.S., according to the Drug Enforcement Administration, which is tasked with combating illicit drug trafficking. Nearly all the precursor chemicals that are needed to make fentanyl come from China. And the companies that make the precursors routinely use fake return addresses and mislabel the products to avoid being caught by law enforcement.

In October, President Joe Biden’s administration announced a sweeping series of indictments and sanctions against Chinese companies and executives blamed for importing the chemicals used to make the deadly drug.

Republicans have complained, however, that the Democratic administration isn’t doing enough to stop fentanyl and the issue is likely to figure prominently in next year’s presidential campaign.

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WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. said Tuesday it is sanctioning a group of people and firms from Iran, China and Hong Kong associated with the alleged development of Iran’s ballistic missile program.

The network of seven people and six firms “facilitated procurement of sensitive and critical parts and technology for key actors in Iran’s ballistic missile development,” including Iran’s defense ministry and its affiliated firms, according to the Treasury Department.

Among the sanctions targets are the China-based firm Zhejiang Qingji, which has allegedly sold centrifuges and other materials to an Iran-based firm affiliated with the nation’s defense ministry. Also designated for sanctions were several executives at Qingji and the Hong Kong-based Lingoe Process Engineering Limited, which Treasury said served as a front company for the Chinese firm.

Also named is Iran’s Defense Attaché in Beijing, Davoud Damghani, who is alleged to coordinate purchases from China for Iran end-users.

Among other things, the sanctions deny the people and firms access to any property or financial assets held in the U.S. and prevent U.S. companies and citizens from doing business with them.

The latest round of financial penalties comes as Iran recently claimed that it has created a hypersonic missile capable of traveling at 15 times the speed of sound, adding a new weapon to its arsenal as tensions remain high with the United States over Tehran’s nuclear program.

Tensions between the U.S. and Iran are also high amid months of antigovernment protests in Iran and Western anger at Iran’s export of attack drones to Russian forces fighting in Ukraine.

Brian E. Nelson, Treasury’s undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said the U.S. “will continue to target illicit transnational procurement networks that covertly support Iran’s ballistic missile production and other military programs.”

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Associated Press reporter Jon Gambrell in Abu Dhabi contributed to this report.

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WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Treasury Department levied new sanctions Thursday against four Ukrainian officials, including two current members of parliament who administration officials say are part of a Russian influence effort to set the pretext for further invasion of Ukraine.

The sanctions name parliament members Taras Kozak and Oleh Voloshyn and two former government officials. According to Treasury, all four have been intimately involved in disinformation efforts by Russia’s federal security service, known as the FSB.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the four men were at the heart of a Kremlin effort begun in 2020 “to degrade the ability of the Ukrainian state to independently function.”

The new sanctions were announced less than 24 hours after President Joe Biden said he thinks Moscow will newly invade Ukraine. He warned Russian President Vladimir Putin that his country would pay a “dear price” in lives lost and a possible restriction in access to the global banking system if it does.

Biden faced criticism from Republicans and Ukrainian officials that he invited a limited Russian invasion by suggesting in comments to reporters on Wednesday that the U.S. would react with a measured response if there was only a “minor incursion.” Administration officials immediately sought to clarify his remarks, and Biden himself did so on Thursday.

“I’ve been absolutely clear with President Putin,” Biden said Thursday. “He has no misunderstanding: any, any assembled Russian units move across the Ukrainian border, that is an invasion.”

Biden on Wednesday said his team is looking at possible sanctions against Moscow that would target the Russian banking system, restricting its ability “to deal in dollars.” Biden was referring to potentially limiting Russia’s access to “dollar clearing” — the conversion of payments by banks on behalf of clients into U.S. dollars from rubles or other foreign currency, according to a senior administration official who was not authorized to comment publicly.

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, a New Hampshire Democrat who co-led a bipartisan congressional delegation to Ukraine last weekend, told reporters Thursday she understood the administration was still analyzing what the impact would be on other countries if Russia were banned from SWIFT, a banking system that handles the flow of money around the world.

Democratic Rep. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan in a Twitter posting urged the administration to take action that makes certain that “Russian oligarchs that support Putin” aren’t “able to spend their weekends shopping in Monaco and Paris.”

The White House last week warned that Russia has stationed operatives in and around Ukraine possibly to create a pretext for an invasion. U.S. and Ukrainian officials have also been concerned about the Russian weaponizing of disinformation.

“The United States is taking action to expose and counter Russia’s dangerous and threatening campaign of influence and disinformation in Ukraine,” Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo said in a statement. “We are committed to taking steps to hold Russia accountable for their destabilizing actions.”

Kozak, who controls several news channels in Ukraine, is accused of amplifying false narratives about Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s inner circle and the 2020 elections. Voloshyn has worked with Russia’s FSB to undermine Ukrainian government officials, Treasury says.

Treasury officials say Voloshyn also worked with Konstantin Kilimnik, a Russian national who was previously sanctioned for allegedly attempting to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential election and passing on information to Russian intelligence.

Treasury also sanctioned Ukraine’s former deputy secretary for national security and defense councils, Vladimir Sivkovich. The administration says Sivkovich worked last year with a network of Russian intelligence activists to carry out influence operations that attempted to build support for Ukraine to officially cede Crimea to Russia in exchange for a drawdown of Russian-backed forces. Russian troops seized Crimea in 2014 and Russia then annexed the Black Sea peninsula.

The other former official cited is Volodymyr Oliynyk, who Treasury says worked at the direction of the FSB to gather information about Ukrainian critical infrastructure. Oliynk is currently living in Russia, according to Treasury.

Biden on Thursday noted that Russia “has a long history of using measures other than overt military action to carry out aggression.”

After his speculation about a “minor incursion” by Russia, Biden underscored that any invasion would be seen as violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty and would result in severe consequences for Russia. Nevertheless, his comments rattled Kyiv.

“We want to remind the great powers that there are no minor incursions and small nations,” Zelenskyy tweeted Thursday shortly before the new sanctions were announced. “Just as there are no minor casualties and little grief from the loss of loved ones.”

Some 100,000 Russian troops have massed near Ukraine’s border. Russian officials are demanding written guarantees that NATO will not expand westward. Members of the alliance refuse to give such a pledge.

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