U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE

WASHINGTON : 

1 

99–011 2011

112th Congress, 1st Session – – – – – – – – – – – – – House Document 112–46 

NOTIFICATION THAT AN EXECUTIVE ORDER WAS 

ISSUED DECLARING A NATIONAL EMERGENCY 

WITH RESPECT TO THE UNUSUAL AND EXTRAORDINARY THREAT THAT SIGNIFICANT 

TRANSNATIONAL CRIMINAL ORGANIZATIONS POSE 

MESSAGE 

FROM

THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES 

TRANSMITTING

NOTIFICATION THAT AN EXECUTIVE ORDER WAS ISSUED DECLARING A NATIONAL EMERGENCY WITH RESPECT TO THE UNUSUAL AND EXTRAORDINARY THREAT THAT SIGNIFICANT 

TRANSNATIONAL CRIMINAL ORGANIZATIONS POSE TO THE NATIONAL SECURITY, FOREIGN POLICY, AND ECONOMY OF THE 

UNITED STATES, PURSUANT TO 50 U.S.C. 1701 ET SEQ. 

JULY 26, 2011.—Message and accompanying papers referred to the 

Committee on Foreign Affairs and ordered to be printed 


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To the Congress of the United States: 

Pursuant to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act 

(50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) (IEEPA), I hereby report that I have issued 

an Executive Order (the ‘‘order’’) declaring a national emergency 

with respect to the unusual and extraordinary threat that significant transnational criminal organizations pose to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States. 

Organized crime is no longer a local or regional problem; it has 

become a danger to international stability. Significant 

transnational criminal organizations have become increasingly sophisticated and dangerous to the United States, and their activities 

have reached such scope and gravity that they destabilize the 

international system. These groups have taken advantage of 

globalization and other factors to diversify their geographic scope 

and range of activities. They have increased and deepened their 

ties to governments and the international financial system, relying 

not only on bribery and violence, but also more and more on the 

ability to exploit differences among countries and to create and 

maintain legal facades to hide illicit activities. 

The specific harms that significant transnational criminal organizations threaten today are many. They corrupt—and in some cases 

co-opt—governments, thereby destabilizing them and weakening 

democratic institutions and the rule of law. They threaten U.S. economic interests by subverting, exploiting, and distorting legitimate 

markets, and could gain influence in strategic sectors of the world 

economy. 

Significant transnational criminal organizations that engage in 

cybercrime threaten sensitive public and private computer networks, undermine the integrity of the international financial system, and impose costs on the American consumer. Those that engage in the theft of intellectual property not only erode U.S. competitiveness, but also endanger the public health and safety 

through the distribution of tainted and counterfeit goods. Many of 

them also engage in drug trafficking. 

Finally, significant transnational criminal organizations increasingly support the activities of other dangerous persons. Some of 

these organizations are involved in arms smuggling, which can facilitate and aggravate violent civil conflicts. Others are involved in 

human smuggling, exacerbating the problem of forced labor. There 

is also evidence of growing ties between significant transnational 

criminal organizations and terrorists. 

The Executive Order I have issued today is one part of a comprehensive strategy to address the growing threat of transnational 

organized crime. The order targets significant transnational criminal organizations and the networks that support them, striking at 

the core of those networks—their ability and need to move money. 

It does this by blocking the property and interests in property of 


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four transnational criminal organizations, listed in the Annex to 

the order, that currently pose significant threats to U.S. domestic 

and foreign economic interests, as well as to U.S. promotion of 

transparency and stability in the international political and financial systems. The order provides criteria for the further blocking of 

persons determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Attorney General and the Secretary of State: • to be a foreign person that constitutes a significant 

transnational criminal organization; • to have materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services 

to or in support of, any person whose property and interests in 

property are blocked pursuant to the order; or • to be owned or controlled by, or to have acted or purported 

to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, any person 

whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant 

to the order. 

I have delegated to the Secretary of the Treasury the authority, 

in consultation with the Attorney General and the Secretary of 

State, to take such actions, including the promulgation of rules and 

regulations, and to employ all powers granted to the President by 

IEEPA as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of the order. 

The order is effective at 12:01 a.m. eastern daylight time on July 

25, 2011. All executive agencies of the United States Government 

are directed to take all appropriate measures within their authority to carry out the provisions of the order. 

I am enclosing a copy of the Executive Order I have issued. 

BARACK OBAMA. 

THE WHITE HOUSE, July 24, 2011. 


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EXECUTIVE ORDER

BLOCKING PROPERTY OF TRANSNATIONAL CRIMINAL ORGANIZATIONS

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution 

and the laws of the United States of America, including the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) 

(IEEPA), the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) 

(NEA), and section 301 of title 3, United States Code, 

I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, 

find that the activities of significant transnational criminal organizations, such as those listed in the Annex to this order, have 

reached such scope and gravity that they threaten the stability of 

international political and economic systems. Such organizations 

are becoming increasingly sophisticated and dangerous to the 

United States; they are increasingly entrenched in the operations 

of foreign governments and the international financial system, 

thereby weakening democratic institutions, degrading the rule of 

law, and undermining economic markets. These organizations facilitate and aggravate violent civil conflicts and increasingly facilitate the activities of other dangerous persons. I therefore determine 

that significant transnational criminal organizations constitute an 

unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign 

policy, and economy of the United States, and hereby declare a national emergency to deal with that threat. 

Accordingly, I hereby order: 

Section 1. (a) All property and interests in property that are in 

the United States, that hereafter come within the United States, 

or that are or hereafter come within the possession or control of 

any United States person, including any overseas branch, of the 

following persons are blocked and may not be transferred, paid, exported, withdrawn, or otherwise dealt in: 

(i) the persons listed in the Annex to this order and 

(ii) any person determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, in 

consultation with the Attorney General and the Secretary of State: 

(A) to be a foreign person that constitutes a significant 

transnational criminal organization; 

(B) to have materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, 

material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in 

support of, any person whose property and interests in property are 

blocked pursuant to this order; or 

(C) to be owned or controlled by, or to have acted or purported 

to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, any person whose 

property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to this 

order. 

(b) I hereby determine that the making of donations of the types 

of articles specified in section 203(b)(2) of IEEPA (50 U.S.C. 


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1702(b)(2)) by, to, or for the benefit of any person whose property 

and interests in property are blocked pursuant to this order would 

seriously impair my ability to deal with the national emergency declared in this order, and I hereby prohibit such donations as provided by subsection (a) of this section. 

(c) The prohibitions in subsection (a) of this section include, but 

are not limited to: 

(i) the making of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, 

or services by, to, or for the benefit of any person whose property 

and interests in property are blocked pursuant to this order; and 

(ii) the receipt of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, 

or services from any such person. 

(d) The prohibitions in subsection (a) of this section apply except 

to the extent provided by statutes, or in regulations, orders, directives, or licenses that may be issued pursuant to this order, and 

notwithstanding any contract entered into or any license or permit 

granted prior to the effective date of this order. 

Sec. 2. (a) Any transaction by a United States person or within 

the United States that evades or avoids, has the purpose of evading 

or avoiding, causes a violation of, or attempts to violate any of the 

prohibitions set forth in this order is prohibited. 

(b) Any conspiracy formed to violate any of the prohibitions set 

forth in this order is prohibited. 

Sec. 3. For the purposes of this order: 

(a) the term ‘‘person’’ means an individual or entity; 

(b) the term ‘‘entity’’ means a partnership, association, trust, 

joint venture, corporation, group, subgroup, or other organization; 

(c) the term ‘‘United States person’’ means any United States citizen, permanent resident alien, entity organized under the laws of 

the United States or any jurisdiction within the United States (including foreign branches), or any person in the United States; 

(d) the term ‘‘foreign person’’ means any citizen or national of a 

foreign state, or any entity organized under the laws of a foreign 

state or existing in a foreign state, including any such individual 

or entity who is also a United States person; and 

(e) the term ‘‘significant transnational criminal organization’’ 

means a group of persons, such as those listed in the Annex to this 

order, that includes one or more foreign persons; that engages in 

an ongoing pattern of serious criminal activity involving the jurisdictions of at least two foreign states; and that threatens the national security, foreign policy, or economy of the United States. 

Sec. 4. For those persons whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to this order who might have a constitutional presence in the United States, I find that because of the ability to transfer funds or other assets instantaneously, prior notice 

to such persons of measures to be taken pursuant to this order 

would render these measures ineffectual. I therefore determine 

that for these measures to be effective in addressing the national 

emergency declared in this order, there need be no prior notice of 

a listing or determination made pursuant to section 1(a) of this 

order. 

Sec. 5. The Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the 

Attorney General and the Secretary of State, is hereby authorized 

to take such actions, including the promulgation of rules and reguVerDate Mar 15 2010 01:10 Jul 27, 2011 Jkt 099006 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6601 Sfmt 6601 E:\HR\OC\HD046.XXX HD046

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lations, and to employ all powers granted to the President by 

IEEPA, as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this 

order. The Secretary of the Treasury may redelegate any of these 

functions to other officers and agencies of the United States Government consistent with applicable law. All agencies of the United 

States Government are hereby directed to take all appropriate 

measures within their authority to carry out the provisions of this 

order. 

Sec. 6. The Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the 

Attorney General and the Secretary of State, is hereby authorized 

to submit the recurring and final reports to the Congress on the 

national emergency declared in this order, consistent with section 

401(c) of the NEA (50 U.S.C. 1641(c)) and section 204(c) of IEEPA 

(50 U.S.C. 1703(c)). 

Sec. 7. The Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the 

Attorney General and the Secretary of State, is hereby authorized 

to determine that circumstances no longer warrant the blocking of 

the property and interests in property of a person listed in the 

Annex to this order, and to take necessary action to give effect to 

that determination. 

Sec. 8. This order is not intended to, and does not, create any 

right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in 

equity by any party against the United States, its departments, 

agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other 

person. 

Sec. 9. This order is effective at 12:01 a.m. eastern daylight time 

on July 25, 2011. 

BARACK OBAMA. 

THE WHITE HOUSE, July 24, 2011. 


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ANNEX 

Entities 

1. THE BROTHERS’ CIRCLE (f.k.a. FAMILY OF ELEVEN; 

f.k.a. THE TWENTY) 

2. CAMORRA 

3. YAKUZA (a.k.a. BORYOKUDAN; a.k.a. GOKUDO) 

4. LOS ZETAS 

Æ 


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