Today the United States Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced sanctions against 12 individuals and eight entities. Three of these individuals and two of the entities have direct ties to New Zealand.

Rokas Karpavicius is a Lithuanian national who was charged with conspiracy to import cocaine and conspiracy to supply methamphetamine as part of Operation FALCON in 1999. He fled New Zealand on a false passport before his court date.

Karpavicius became the primary target of Operation KEYBOARD in 2008, where he was found to be co-ordinating drug exports of amphetamine, MDMA and LSD, from Europe to New Zealand. People were recruited to New Zealand to uplift drugs and send funds overseas through various Auckland-based money remitters.

An arrest warrant was issued for Karpavicius in 2009, with an Interpol Red Notice subsequently issued in 2011. He was eventually arrested at the Latvian border in December 2011 and extradited to New Zealand in October 2012. Karpavicius was convicted of multiple drug importation and money laundering charges.

He was deported from New Zealand to Lithuania in 2016 after serving a four years of an 11-year prison sentence.

David Thackray is an Australian national who was charged in 2014 with importing cocaine nearly a kilo of cocaine into New Zealand.

Ho Kai Lueng is the director of the New Zealand registered companies JT Trading Ltd and TNK Trading Ltd and these two companies are among the eight entities sanctioned by OFAC.

“New Zealand Police is committed to fighting transnational organised crime and making New Zealand safer. One of our key focusses has been building strong working relationships with a wide range of key international partners to utilise the tools at their disposal to disrupt the illicit activity of TNOC groups and their facilitators who pose a risk to New Zealand and its communities” says Detective Superintendent Greg Williams of the National Organised Crime Group.

“This is the first time that the OFAC sanction has been applied to people with a New Zealand nexus and sends a clear message that where ever you base yourself you are not out of reach. OFAC’s sanctioning of these individuals and entities sends a clear message that New Zealand is working in unison with its international partners to stop the threats to our borders.”

The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the U.S. Department of the Treasury aims to protect international trade – both in the United States and abroad – against the threat of terrorist activities and drug and arms trafficking. OFAC also sanctions individuals, companies and organisations. and prescribes them as Specially Designated Nationals (SDNs) – these are included on their dedicated SDN list.

Any New Zealand business that has an office in the United States is required to comply with OFAC designations. They must freeze the assets of sanctioned persons or entities, and it is prohibited for them to conduct business with them (the most up-to-date SDN list can be publicly accessed on the OFAC website [1]).

For New Zealand businesses with an office in the United States, or who transact with US persons, or use US originated goods and services, it falls under the remit of individual companies to ensure they regularly check the OFAC list – not only to comply with sanctions regulations, but also to avoid the threat of doing business with a sanctioned person, company or country – which could be both financially and reputationally damaging. For general information on OFAC and Sanctions please visit OFAC website here [2].

In addition to the OFAC lists, many organisations also factor EU lists into their regular sanctions programs to ensure the safety and security of their organisation. For more information about complying with OFAC’s sanctions programmes, please visit their website here [3].

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