WASHINGTON, Feb. 14 (UPI) -- The U.S. Treasury Department Friday designated the wife of imprisoned Los Zetas leader Miguel Angel Trevino Morales as a major drug trafficker.

Juanita del Carmen Rios Hernandez's medical supply company, Distribuidora e Importadora de Productos Medicos del Norte, was also designated as a trafficker, officials said in an announcement.


The action by the Office of Foreign Assets Control means U.S. residents or corporate entities are barred from doing business with Rios Hernandez or her company.

"OFAC will be relentless in sanctioning Los Zetas' leadership and associates to weaken and ultimately collapse the financial infrastructure of this ruthless cartel," OFAC Director Adam J. Szubin said.

Morales is imprisoned in Mexico and under indictment in the United States.

Los Zetas, founded as an armed wing of the Gulf Cartel by deserters from Mexican Army commando units, has become one of the most powerful cartels.