FROM THE OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS

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May 11, 2005
JS-2440

Treasury Designation Targets North Valle
Cartel Associates, Businesses
-Sixty-three Individuals, Entities Named
Colombian Narcotics Traffickers-

The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) today added 32 companies and 31 individuals to its list of Specially Designated Narcotics Traffickers (SDNTs). The companies named form the Grajales business group, known in Colombia as Grupo Grajales. Also designated today was the head of Grupo Grajales, Raul Alberto Grajales Lemos.

"Today's designation dealt another serious blow to the financial network of the North Valle cartel," said Robert Werner, Director of OFAC. "By breaking the financial backbone of groups like North Valle, we help thwart the ability of cartels to traffic lethal narcotics in the United States and abroad."

"Actions like today's weaken the viability of rogue groups and reduce their ability to undermine the legitimate, democratic governments of countries in which they operate, like Colombia. The designation process is a truly important tool that furthers the national security and foreign policy interests of the Untied States by helping to promote stability abroad," Werner continued.

Raul Grajales Lemos, the head of Grupo Grajales, is the subject of a cocaine trafficking indictment filed in the Southern District of Florida. In addition, he has been associated with various leaders of the North Valle drug cartel for many years, including SDNT principal individuals Ivan Urdinola Grajales (deceased 2002) and Carlos Alberto Renteria Mantilla (a.k.a. Beto Renteria). The North Valle drug cartel is the target of a Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act indictment filed in the District of Columbia.

Lorena Henao Montoya (SDNT since February 2000), the widow of confessed narcotics trafficker Ivan Urdinola Grajales, was captured in Panama in January 2004. Documents seized from Lorena Henao Montoya's properties and associates demonstrate her financial links to principal Grupo Grajales companies, including Grajales S.A. (fruit cultivation), Casa Grajales S.A. (winery), Frexco S.A. (fruit processing and exports) and Hotel Los Vinedos (La Union, Valle, Colombia). Other documents seized in Panama exposed Lorena Henao Montoya's bribery of Colombian officials involved in asset forfeiture cases against her. She pleaded guilty to these charges and is now serving a prison sentence in Colombia.

Beto Renteria, a fugitive who was named as a leader of the North Valle drug cartel in the RICO indictment, also has a financial interest in Grupo Grajales companies. Beto Renteria's key financial front man, Mauricio Pardo Ojeda (SDNT since March 2005), is involved in the holding and management companies that operate Casa Estrella, a Colombian department store chain. In addition, the wife of Beto Renteria, Maria Nury Caicedo Gallego (SDNT since March 2005), is involved in Salome Grajales y Cia. Ltda., a company named after the sister of Raul Grajales Lemos. The Casa Estrella department store chain was once known as "Casa Grajales" and remains a part of Grupo Grajales.

SDNTs are subject to the economic sanctions imposed against Colombian drug cartels in Executive Order 12978. Today's action freezes any assets found in the United States and prohibits all financial and commercial transactions between the designees and any U.S. person.

The assets of a total of 1,215 business and individuals in Aruba, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Panama, Peru, Spain, Vanuatu, Venezuela, the Bahamas, the British Virgin Islands and the Cayman Islands are now blocked under E.O. 12978. The 460 SDNT businesses include agricultural, aviation, consulting, construction, distribution, financial, investment, manufacturing, mining, offshore, pharmaceutical, real estate and service firms. The SDNT list includes 18 kingpins from the Cali, North Valle and North Coast drug cartels in Colombia, including newly named North Valle cartel leader Raul Alberto Grajales Lemos.

For more information on recent Treasury actions against the North Valle cartel, please visit the following links:

http://www.treas.gov/press/releases/js2324.htm

http://www.treas.gov/press/releases/js2031.htm

A complete list of the entities identified today can be found at: http://www.treas.gov/offices/enforcement/ofac/actions/.

REPORTS

• A diagram of the individuals and businesses designated today