Treasury targets PCC money laundering network; OFAC also adds Ecuador’s Chone Killers
The United States imposed sanctions on two Brazilian nationals and four companies tied to Primeiro Comando da Capital, while OFAC also listed Ecuador’s Chone Killers as a foreign terrorist organization and specially designated global terrorist.
WASHINGTON, July 1, 2026 — The US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control on Wednesday designated two Brazilian nationals, three Brazilian companies and one Portuguese company for links to Primeiro Comando da Capital, or PCC, a Brazil-based criminal group that Treasury said has used operatives in the United States, especially in Florida, to launder drug proceeds. OFAC’s July 1 action also added Ecuador’s Chone Killers to the SDN List as both a foreign terrorist organization and a specially designated global terrorist, and updated the listing for ISIL Khorasan to add a large number of digital currency addresses.
Treasury said the PCC network it targeted operated from Florida and Sao Paulo, Brazil. It identified Victor Henrique de Oliveira Shimada as a key link between Florida-based PCC operatives and foreign drug traffickers, and said the sanctions also cover Stella Stefanie Nunes Henrique de Oliveira and the companies Pixwave Solucoes de Pagamentos Ltda, Victory Trading Intermediacao de Negocios Cobrancas e Tecnologia Ltda, Wave Construcoes Inteligentes Ltda and Portugal-based Avenidas Flutuantes Unipessoal Lda.
The action followed a Homeland Security Task Force-led investigation involving the FBI’s Miami Field Office and the Justice Department’s Money Laundering, Narcotics and Forfeiture Section, Treasury said. Treasury added that FBI agents arrested six members of the Florida-based group in January 2026 on money laundering charges in the Southern District of Florida.
Treasury described PCC as the largest transnational criminal organization in the Western Hemisphere and said Brazilian law enforcement recently uncovered a PCC-controlled trade-based money laundering operation that moved more than $190 million in seven months through a Chinese electronics distribution network and e-commerce platform.
The move comes weeks after the State Department designated PCC and Comando Vermelho as specially designated global terrorists and said it intended to designate both as foreign terrorist organizations, effective June 5, 2026. A Federal Register notice confirms PCC’s FTO designation took effect on June 5.
OFAC’s July 1 listing for Chone Killers marks another escalation in Washington’s use of terrorism authorities against Latin American criminal groups. The OFAC notice identifies the Ecuador-based group as both an FTO and SDGT.
Regulatory Actions
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