US seizes 615,000 gallons of biodiesel bound for sanctioned Cuban company

Treasury sanctioned ENETEC S.A. in July to restrict Cuban government financing and energy-sector transactions

Homeland Security Investigations in Miami announced Wednesday that federal authorities had seized 90 fuel shipments worth $2.8 million that were bound for ENETEC S.A., a company linked to the Cuban government and sanctioned by the United States. The operation, conducted jointly with U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security, involved approximately 615,000 gallons of biodiesel, investigators said at a news conference.

HSI Miami investigators said they first detected the shipments bound for ENETEC S.A. in early September. Authorities initially ordered the shipments held while they reviewed documentation and verified the final recipient. The investigation later determined that ENETEC S.A. was listed in the export documents as the shipments’ ultimate consignee.

“We’re talking about more than 600,000 gallons of fuel destined for a sanctioned entity,” José R. Figueroa, special agent in charge of HSI Miami, said during the news conference. He described the shipments as a “deliberate attempt to undermine U.S. sanctions.”

The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control formally sanctioned ENETEC S.A. in July under Executive Order 14404, a measure used by the U.S. administration to block sources of financing for the Cuban government and restrict transactions involving its energy sector.

Roughly 496,000 gallons of biodiesel were seized at Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., according to WSVN-TV. Another 19 shipments containing approximately 119,000 gallons remain detained at the Port of Houston in Texas.

HSI officials distinguished the seized shipments from legal U.S. exports to Cuba. Figueroa said the operation was not intended to impede legitimate trade or humanitarian assistance for the Cuban people, according to Martí Noticias.

Agents involved in the case described the investigation as complex and declined to provide specific details about who may have been involved in the transactions or how payments were made. Officials also declined to say whether charges would be filed against those connected to the shipments, according to Telemundo 51.