Washington--The Shining Path rebels which terrorized Peru in the 1980s have evolved into a major drug trafficking group, the US Treasury said Monday.
The Treasury Department officially designated the Maoist group, whose war with the government left 70,000 people dead over two decades, a "significant foreign narcotics trafficker" under the US Kingpin Act, which freezes assets tied to those designated.
It also named three Shining Path leaders, Victor Quispe Palomino, Jorge Quispe Palomino and Florindo Eleuterio Flores Hala, for sanctions for their roles as traffickers.
"Since its founding over three decades ago, the Shining Path has evolved from a militant terrorist group to a criminal narco-terrorist organization responsible for trafficking cocaine throughout South America," said John Smith, acting director of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control.
"Our action today supports the government of Peru's efforts to actively combat the group, and we will continue to target the Shining Path and its narco-terrorist activities."
Already long officially designated a terrorist organization by Washington, Shining Path had been sharply reduced as a threat in Peru by the late 1990s after a number of key leaders were captured or killed.
Over the past 10 years, the Treasury said, it has turned to a focus on cocaine production and trafficking.
The Treasury said the group taxes the production, processing and transport of the drug, and provides transport and security to the industry in south-central Peru.
While Peru remained through 2013 the world's top producer of cocaine, the Treasury praised the government of President Ollanta Humala for "a firm commitment to countering narcotics production and trafficking."
AFP
