On June 10, 2024, the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced that the Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has sanctioned ten individuals, entities, and vessels, including two captains for illegally transporting sanctioned oil and other goods. The illegal activity included operations for the Sa'id al-Jamal network, Houthis Finance Facilitator. The OFAC has sanctioned the captain of the 'Olympics', formerly the 'Lady Sofia' (IMO: 9212759), a sanctioned vessel that continues transporting cargo for the Sa'id al-Jamal network. The OFAC stated that in mid-May, the tanker had used forged paperwork that falsely specified that the vessel was loaded with Malaysian cargo from a Malaysian Port at the end of April. Another sanction by OFAC was against the Captain of the 'La Pearl' (IMO: 9174660), also known as 'Elita', and her commercial manager is Saone Shipping Corporation, which is under sanction by the OFAC. The vessel offloaded the sanctioned cargo and is anchored off the China coast. On June 2, it sailed from Dongjiakou. The tanker 'Janet', actually en route from Malacca to Singapore with an ETA as of June 18, and 'Bella 1' (IMO: 9230880), were sanctioned for transporting sanctioned cargo for the Concepto Screen SAL Off Shore to southeast Asia. The OFAC has also sanctioned the registered owners of the tankers, the Lainey Shipping Ltd. and the Louis Marine Shipholding Enterprises S.A.
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CG HERIBERTO HERNAND
The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter 'Charles David Jr.' offloaded and transferred custody of 245 kilograms of cocaine and nine suspected smugglers to Drug Enforcement Administration authorities at Coast Guard Base San Juan, Puerto Rico, on June 8, 2024. The seized contraband was estimated to have a wholesale value of $7.4 million dollars, while the interdiction and seizure is the result of multi-agency efforts involving Coast Guard’s Western Hemisphere Strategy, the Caribbean Corridor Strike Force Initiative and Operation Unified Resolve. The Drug Enforcement Administration was leading the investigation in this case. In the early morning hours of June 3, 2023, the 'Heriberto Hernández' had located a suspect vessel, approximately 75 nautical miles south of St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. As the cutterapproached, the crew observed the occupants of the suspect vessel jettison multiple packages overboard. The crew of the cutter successfully stopped the suspect vessel that had nine men onboard, who claimed to be Venezuelan nationals. The cutter crew also recovered multiple packages of the jettisoned cargo and seized a total of 10 bales and two additional bags, with individual packages, which tested positive for cocaine. The 'Heriberto Hernández' embarked the nine detainees and seized contraband that were later transferred to the 'Charles David Jr.' for final transport to San Juan, Puerto Rico. Report with photo: https://www.news.uscg.mil/Press-Releases/Article/3800489/coast-guard-offloads-74-million-in-seized-cocaine-transfers-custody-of-9-smuggl/
JAMES II
On June 10, 2024, the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced that the Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has sanctioned ten individuals, entities, and vessels, including two captains for illegally transporting sanctioned oil and other goods. The illegal activity included operations for the Sa'id al-Jamal network, Houthis Finance Facilitator. The OFAC has sanctioned the captain of the 'Olympics', formerly the 'Lady Sofia' (IMO: 9212759), a sanctioned vessel that continues transporting cargo for the Sa'id al-Jamal network. The OFAC stated that in mid-May, the tanker had used forged paperwork that falsely specified that the vessel was loaded with Malaysian cargo from a Malaysian Port at the end of April. Another sanction by OFAC was against the Captain of the 'La Pearl', also known as 'Elita', and her commercial manager is Saone Shipping Corporation, which is under sanction by the OFAC. The vessel offloaded the sanctioned cargo and is anchored off the China coast. On June 2, it sailed from Dongjiakou. The tanker 'Janet' (IMO: 9220952), actually en route from Malacca to Singapore with an ETA as of June 18, and 'Bella 1', which was anchoraed off Khor Fakkan as of June 12, were sanctioned for transporting sanctioned cargo for the Concepto Screen SAL Off Shore to southeast Asia. The OFAC has also sanctioned the registered owners of the tankers, the Lainey Shipping Ltd. and the Louis Marine Shipholding Enterprises S.A.
CG CHARLES DAVID JR
The crew of the 'Charles David Jr.' offloaded and transferred custody of 245 kilograms of cocaine and nine suspected smugglers to Drug Enforcement Administration authorities at Coast Guard Base San Juan, Puerto Rico, on June 8, 2024. The seized contraband was estimated to have a wholesale value of $7.4 million dollars, while the interdiction and seizure is the result of multi-agency efforts involving Coast Guard’s Western Hemisphere Strategy, the Caribbean Corridor Strike Force Initiative and Operation Unified Resolve. The Drug Enforcement Administration was leading the investigation in this case. In the early morning hours of June 3, 2023, the Coast Guard Cutter 'Heriberto Hernández' had located a suspect vessel, approximately 75 nautical miles south of St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. As the cutterapproached, the crew observed the occupants of the suspect vessel jettison multiple packages overboard. The crew of the cutter successfully stopped the suspect vessel that had nine men onboard, who claimed to be Venezuelan nationals. The cutter crew also recovered multiple packages of the jettisoned cargo and seized a total of 10 bales and two additional bags, with individual packages, which tested positive for cocaine. The 'Heriberto Hernández' embarked the nine detainees and seized contraband that were later transferred to the 'Charles David Jr.' for final transport to San Juan, Puerto Rico. Report with photo: https://www.news.uscg.mil/Press-Releases/Article/3800489/coast-guard-offloads-74-million-in-seized-cocaine-transfers-custody-of-9-smuggl/
LADY SOFIA
On June 10, 2024, the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced that the Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has sanctioned ten individuals, entities, and vessels, including two captains for illegally transporting sanctioned oil and other goods. The illegal activity included operations for the Sa'id al-Jamal network, Houthis Finance Facilitator. The OFAC has sanctioned the captain of the 'Olympics', formerly the 'Lady Sofia', a sanctioned vessel that continues transporting cargo for the Sa'id al-Jamal network. The OFAC stated that in mid-May, the tanker had used forged paperwork that falsely specified that the vessel was loaded with Malaysian cargo from a Malaysian Port at the end of April. Another sanction by OFAC was against the Captain of the 'La Pearl' (IMO: 9174660), also known as 'Elita', and her commercial manager is Saone Shipping Corporation, which is under sanction by the OFAC. The vessel offloaded the sanctioned cargo and is anchored off the China coast. On June 2, it sailed from Dongjiakou. The tanker 'Janet' (IMO: 9220952), actually en route from Malacca to Singapore with an ETA as of June 18, and 'Bella 1', which was anchoraed off Khor Fakkan as of June 12, were sanctioned for transporting sanctioned cargo for the Concepto Screen SAL Off Shore to southeast Asia. The OFAC has also sanctioned the registered owners of the tankers, the Lainey Shipping Ltd. and the Louis Marine Shipholding Enterprises S.A.