Ex-Casino Owner Trump Imposes Sanctions On Southeast Asian Casino Serving Tiger MeatLaos Casino Complex Said To Engage In Human, Wildlife Trafficking |
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The Trump Administration is using an Obama-era executive order to impose sanctions on the operator of a casino in Laos, a landlocked country in Southeast Asia.
The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said this week that it has designated the group behind the Kings Romans Casino in Laos’ Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone a “criminal organization.” The government said that the Zhao Wei Transnational Criminal Organization is engaged in drug trafficking, human trafficking, wildlife trafficking, money laundering and bribery, “much of which is facilitated” through the casino.
The wildlife includes animals such as tigers, rhinos and elephants. The trafficking was reported on by The New York Times in June. The article said that the casino was serving tiger meet at its restaurants off of a “special jungle menu.” The casino complex contains a makeshift zoo.
The U.S. government also said that is has targeted four individuals and three other groups in Laos, Thailand and Hong Kong, with “materially assisting, sponsoring, or providing financial, material, or technological support for” the far-reaching criminal organization.
“As a result of today’s action, all assets of those designated that are under U.S. jurisdiction are frozen, and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with them,” an OFAC news release dated Jan. 30 said.
“The Zhao Wei crime network engages in an array of horrendous illicit activities, including human trafficking and child prostitution, drug trafficking, and wildlife trafficking,” said Sigal Mandelker, Treasury Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence.
“We are targeting key figures in this transnational criminal organization, which stretches from the Kings Romans Casino in Laos throughout Southeast Asia. OFAC is designating the Zhao Wei network as part of a broader strategy to disrupt the financial infrastructure of transnational criminal organizations that pose a threat to the United States and our allies.”
According to the government, the sanctions “support” Trump’s move to name January 2018 as “Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month.”
Actors found in violation of the sanctions are subjected to fines and up to 20 years in prison, the government said in the news release.
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