Story highlights The US says Tareck El Aissami has "facilitated shipments of narcotics from Venezuela"

El Aissami is vice president of Venezuela

(CNN) U.S. authorities on Monday said the vice president of Venezuela was an international drug trafficker and slapped severe sanctions on him.

The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said Tareck El Aissami has played a "significant role in international narcotics trafficking," a news release said.

"OFAC's action today is the culmination of a multi-year investigation under the Kingpin Act to target significant narcotics traffickers in Venezuela and demonstrates that power and influence do not protect those who engage in these illicit activities," said John Smith, acting director of OFAC.

El Aissami, who was appointed vice president of Venezuela in January, is a former interior and justice minister and governor of the country's Aragua state.

The Treasury Department said he "facilitated shipments of narcotics from Venezuela to include control over planes that leave from a Venezuelan air base, (and) narcotics shipments of over 1,000 kilograms from Venezuela on multiple occasions, including those with the final destinations of Mexico and the United States."

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