The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has expanded sanctions targeting the narco-corruption infrastructure at the center of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s illegitimate regime, designating close family members and associates tied to the regime’s financial networks.
Treasury officials said the move reflects a continued effort to dismantle the personal and familial structures that sustain Maduro’s government. The action reinforces warnings previously reported exclusively by The Dallas Express from a former senior Venezuelan intelligence official who described the regime as a narco-terrorist organization financed through family-controlled networks, drug trafficking, and state-linked oil operations.
Treasury: Maduro Regime Is a “Rogue Narco-State”
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced the designations Friday, saying the newly sanctioned individuals are “propping up Nicolás Maduro’s rogue narco-state.”
“We will not allow Venezuela to continue flooding our nation with deadly drugs,” Bessent said, adding that Maduro and his associates “threaten our hemisphere’s peace and stability.”
Treasury said the Trump administration will continue targeting the networks that support what it calls the regime’s “illegitimate dictatorship.”
Family Networks Targeted
The sanctions build on OFAC’s December 11 designation of Carlos Erik Malpica Flores, a nephew of Maduro’s wife, Cilia Flores. Malpica Flores was sanctioned under Executive Order 13692 for his role as a current or former Venezuelan government official and for extensive ties to corruption at state-run oil company Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA).
In the latest action, OFAC designated several of Malpica Flores’ immediate adult family members under Executive Order 13850, citing their involvement in or facilitation of transactions linked to corruption and deceptive practices associated with the regime.
Those designated include his mother, father, sister, wife, and adult daughter.
Treasury also sanctioned two family members of Ramon Carretero Napolitano, a Panamanian businessman who has conducted extensive business with the Maduro regime and with members of the Malpica Flores family.
Sanctions Implications
As a result of the designations, all property and interests in property of the sanctioned individuals that are in the United States or under U.S. control are blocked and must be reported to OFAC. Entities owned 50 percent or more by one or more blocked persons are also subject to sanctions.
Absent authorization through a general or specific license, U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions involving blocked individuals or their property. Treasury warned that violations may result in civil or criminal penalties, including for financial institutions that facilitate prohibited transactions.
Broader U.S. Pressure Campaign
The action follows a series of recent U.S. enforcement measures aimed at cutting off Venezuela’s oil-based revenue streams and transnational criminal networks.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, President Donald Trump ordered a blockade of sanctioned Venezuelan oil tankers earlier this month, citing terrorism, drug trafficking, and the use of oil revenue to finance regime-linked criminal activity. That move followed multiple Dallas Express exclusives detailing allegations from former Venezuelan officials and whistleblowers describing the Maduro regime as a state-directed criminal enterprise reliant on oil exports, family-controlled finances, and sanctions evasion.
Separately, whistleblower materials reviewed by The Dallas Express and provided to U.S. authorities have described extensive financial and energy cooperation between Venezuela and Iran, including nontraditional payment structures and shared sanctions-evasion pathways that have drawn increasing scrutiny in Washington.
The Dallas Express will continue to report on U.S. enforcement actions and their implications for Venezuela and U.S. national security.
