Treasury sanctions Guatemalan spice buyer

The Treasury Department announced Tuesday that it had designated a Guatemelan spice buyer a narcotics trafficker, calling him a “critical link” between Colombian producers and a Mexican cartel.

Horst Walter Overdick Mejia had already been arrested in Guatemala after a U.S. indictment for trafficking and gun charges. 

The formal designation of Overdick Mejia as a trafficker under the Kingpin Act freezes his U.S. assets and bars Americans from engaging in any business with him.

According to a Treasury release, Overdick Mejia smuggled thousands of kilograms of cocaine into Mexico, and is thought to be the reason Los Zetas, the violent drug cartel, entered Guatemala. 

“Overdick Mejia’s drug trafficking activities and close ties to the Los Zetas makes him a dangerous and critical figure in the Central American narcotics trade,” Adam Szubin, director of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, said in a statement. 

The Guatemalan spice buyer has also laundered millions of drug-related dollars, Treasury says. 

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