On 16 April 2015, the US Treasury Department blocked the property of three individuals affiliated with the Central American street gang Mara Salvatrucha, also known as MS-13. The Treasury Department added Salvadoran nationals José Luís Mendoza Figueroa, Eduardo Erazo Nolasco, and Élmer Canales Rivera to the SDN list under the sanctions programme targeting Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCOs). The individuals were listed for their alleged leadership positions in MS-13 “cliques”, the sub-units of the MS-13 network. All three are currently incarcerated in El Salvador but are alleged to be continuing their leadership operations from prison.
Separately, on 21 April 2015, the Treasury Department blocked the property of the entity, Kodo-kai, and its chairman, Teruaki Takeuchi, under the TCO sanctions. Kodo-kai is part of the Yamaguchi-gumi organisation, which is the most prominent faction of the Yakuza infrastructure. According to the US government, Kodo-kai members number in the thousands and are reputed to be the most violent faction of the Yamaguchi-gumi.
