Washington – The United States has seized assets of six Libyans for smuggling African migrant the U.S. Department of the Treasury said in a press release on Monday.
The six Libyans were in an action that coincides with new UN sanctions against people trafficking networks in the North African nation.
“As a result of today’s action, all of the designated persons’ assets in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons must be blocked and reported to OFAC Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control,’’ the release said.
OCAC said U.S. citizens and residents are also prohibited from doing business with those named, including transactions with entities that they owned.
The designated individuals were: Ermias Ghermay, Musab Abu Grein, Abd al-Rahman Milad, Mohamed Koshlaf, Abd al-Razzak Fitwi, and Ahmed Dabbashi, the release noted.
The sanctions coincide with new UN sanctions, which also aim to disrupt a lucrative business of smuggling European-bound migrants from sub-Saharan through Libya, according to the release.
Libyan smugglers have been blamed for torturing, robbing and enslaving migrants from elsewhere in Africa, according to published reports.
(Sputnik/NAN)