U.S. sanctions mother-in-law of Mexican Sinaloa cartel leader
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The U.S. is imposing sanctions on the mother-in-law of a Mexican drug lord because she allegedly concealed assets from a drug cartel's operations around the world.
Alejandra Araujo Uriarte is a Mexican national who was added to a list of specially designated narcotics traffickers. That's for her role in holding and hiding assets in her name on behalf of her son-in-law, Juan José Esparragoza Moreno. He's a leader of the Mexican Sinaloa cartel.
The action on Thursday freezes her assets within U.S. jurisdictions and bans U.S. citizens from doing business with her.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Treasury Department previously designated seven of Moreno's family members, including his wife. After that, Treasury says his wife began to transfer land to Moreno's mother-in-law in an attempt to hide the assets and evade the sanctions.
Rio Doce magazine, citing sources close to the Sinaloa cartel leader's family, reported that Esparragoza Moreno died from a heart attack and was cremated.
In August, his son, José Juan Esparragoza Jiménez, was arrested during a search of residences in Culiacán, the capital of the state of Sinaloa. Mexican authorities seized drugs, firearms, 2.74 million pesos (about $210,000) in cash and chemicals used to produce crystal meth and cocaine.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}According to judicial officials, Esparragoza Jiménez gave a statement to a Mexican judge on Aug. 24 claiming that his father died in June but providing no additional details.
The FBI is still offering a $5 million reward for information leading to the capture of Esparragoza Moreno.
The Associated Press and EFE contributed to this report.
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