Treasury Sanctions Houthi-Linked Petroleum Smuggling and Sanctions Evasion Network

WASHINGTON — Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is designating two individuals and five entities that profit through money laundering and importing petroleum products into territory controlled by Ansarallah, commonly known as the Houthis. The Iran-backed Houthis gain hundreds of millions of dollars annually by working with Yemeni businessmen to tax petroleum imports, generating critical revenue that funds the Houthis’ destabilizing activities in the region.Today’s action targets a network of individuals and their companies located across Yemen and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) who are among the most significant importers of petroleum products and money launderers that benefit the Houthis.