BAN BY U.S. HELPS PLUG DRUG LAUNDERING PIPELINE

The U.S. Treasury Department, recognizing that crises honor no
borders, has gone a long way toward helping its neighbor with a
monumental problem.

The department announced it has banned Americans from conducting
business with six Mexican companies that have served as fronts for a
powerful drug cartel, according to investigations.

The firms include a dairy and day-care center involved in the
operations of Ismael Zambada Garcia, a drug kingpin based in the
northwestern state of Sinaloa, the Associated Press reported.

Sinaloa has emerged as the home of many of the top drug smugglers in
Mexico.

"The Zambada Garcia organization cannot hide behind front companies
like the Sinaloa cattle and dairy business," Drug Enforcement
Administration head Karen Tandy said in a news release.

Cutting off the companies from the U.S. financial system, the
department will freeze any assets the firms have in this country,
undermining their efforts to launder money obtained through drug
trafficking.

The U.S. State Department, meanwhile, has offered a $5 million reward
for information leading to the arrest of Zambada.

The efforts by the U.S. government, complementing the aggressive
campaign by Mexican President Felipe Calderon to drive the cartels out
of existence, illustrate the benefit of a two-pronged approach to the
crisis.