OFAC adds Hezbollah-linked network, removes Sinaloa and Russia-related names from SDN List
The U.S. Treasury on Friday added 10 people and six companies tied to Hezbollah to the SDN List, while removing three Sinaloa-linked narcotics targets and five Russia-related entries.
WASHINGTON, March 20, 2026 — The U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control updated the SDN List with a mixed action that tightened pressure on Hezbollah-linked financial and commercial activity while also pruning older counter-narcotics and Russia-related entries. OFAC’s March 20 notice added 10 individuals and six entities under the counterterrorism program, and removed three narcotics trafficker entries linked to the Sinaloa Cartel plus five Russia-related entries.
The new designations center on a Lebanon-linked Hezbollah network tied to Alaa Hassan Hamieh and other associates. The listed individuals and companies span Lebanon, Qatar, Poland, Slovenia and Canada, including CallLync and Seven Seas entities, indicating Treasury is still targeting Hezbollah’s use of cross-border commercial structures to move money and sustain operations outside the formal banking system.
The broader context is consistent with Treasury’s recent Hezbollah campaign. In 2025 and early 2026, Treasury repeatedly targeted Hezbollah financial officials, sanctions evasion facilitators and revenue-generation channels, including networks tied to the group’s finance team and Lebanon’s cash-based economy. This latest move fits that pattern by focusing on facilitators and front companies rather than only senior operatives.
On the removals side, OFAC deleted Cesar Gastelum Serrano and two of his brothers from the SDN List. Treasury originally designated Cesar Gastelum Serrano in December 2014 as a prolific cocaine supplier for the Sinaloa Cartel and said his brothers supported a multi-country cocaine distribution network. OFAC’s March 20 list update does not give a public explanation for the removals.
OFAC also removed five Russia-related entries, including UAE-based Reliable Freight Services FZCO and individuals tied to earlier sanctions-evasion networks. Reliable Freight had been designated in December 2023 for shipping items such as x-ray systems, batteries, and aircraft parts to Russia, while Gilad Piflaks had been tied in 2023 to the Zimenkov procurement network. As with the narcotics removals, the March 20 notice does not state why the Russia-linked names were delisted.
Regulatory Actions
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