OAN Staff Blake Wolf
12:24 PM – Friday, June 6, 2025
The Trump administration announced sanctions against six accused cocaine traffickers who utilized “narco-subs” to ship their illicit product, according to the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).
OFAC announced the sanctions against four Guyanese nationals and two Colombian nationals “responsible for trafficking tons of cocaine from South America to the United States, Europe, and the Caribbean,” on Thursday.
A press release from the Treasury Department further revealed that the drug traffickers utilized “boats and narco-subs” to discreetly traffic tons of cocaine into the Americas.
One of the individuals sanctioned, Himnauth Sawh, was discovered to be a Guyanese law enforcement official whom the U.S. Treasury Department labeled as “corrupt.”
The United States has imposed sanctions on the two Colombian nationals—Manuel Salazar Guiterrez and Yeison Andres Sanchez Vallejo—as well as the four Guyanese nationals: Randolph Duncan, Himnauth Sawh, Mark Cromwell, and Paul Daby Jr., as they have been identified as the responsible individuals.
“For decades, reported corrupt actors have used Guyana as a transshipment point for the movement of drugs from South America to the United States, with Mexican drug cartels also maintaining a presence in the region. International cocaine trafficking remains a serious threat to the United States, as the substantial profits generated from these sales continue to fund and strengthen cartel operations,” the release stated.
The release detailed how the Guyanese nations were been able to traffic drugs from Guyana into the United States, in addition to the role of each of the newly-sanctioned individuals in the criminal network.
“Guyanese nationals Paul Daby Jr. and Randolph Duncan operate the largest drug trafficking organizations in Guyana and rely on maritime vessels and aircraft to conceal and traffic cocaine, while also allegedly bribing Guyanese officials to facilitate their drug trafficking operations. Daby Jr. traffics ton-quantities of cocaine, coordinating the shipment of loads from Colombia and Venezuela via aircraft, and utilizing illegal airstrips in Guyana,” the report read.
“Mark Cromwell, a former Guyana Police Force (GPF) officer, is a violent drug trafficker and associate of Daby Jr. Cromwell is wanted by the GPF for his connection to the 2024 abduction of a former Guyanese police officer,” it continued, going on to claim that Sawh, a GPF officer, “ensured safe passage to Colombian and Venezuelan traffickers.”
The report continues to discuss a number of instances in which the United States and Guyanese law enforcement officials seized tons of cocaine from narco-vessels, including an operation in March which concluded with officials seizing around 182 kilograms of cocaine in the waters of Trinidad and Tobago.
“Cocaine packages stamped with the Toyota logo, a known trademark of the Sinaloa Cartel, were found on-board the cargo vessel.”
A separate operation in March also saw U.S. and Guyanese law enforcement seizing 2,370 kilograms of cocaine from a semi-submersible ship — roughly 150 miles off the coast of Guyana.
“Under President Trump, this administration has achieved the most secure border in modern history. The Treasury Department continues to bring our unique tools and authorities to the fight against cartels and their affiliates. Today’s action is a strong signal that this administration will continue to take the fight to the cartels, regardless of where they are located,” stated Deputy Secretary Michael Faulkender.
“Treasury will continue to expose the criminal networks that allow for drugs to be trafficked into the United States, and work closely with our law enforcement colleagues and the Government of Guyana to disrupt the cartels wherever they operate,” he added.
The Treasury Department’s release concluded by describing the consequences inflicted on the sanctioned men.
“As a result of today’s action, all property and interests in property of the designated or blocked persons described above that are in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons are blocked and must be reported to OFAC. In addition, any entities that are owned, directly or indirectly, individually or in the aggregate, 50 percent or more by one or more blocked persons are also blocked.”
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