An Australian man has been sanctioned by the US treasury department over his alleged involvement in the global narcotics trade.
Australian David Jonathan Thackray and New Zealand national Ho Kai Leung were among 12 individuals and eight entities sanctioned by the department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (Ofac) in an action it said was being taken against “global narcotics traffickers”.
He is now among three Australians currently listed under the Ofac’s sanction regime, which does not require criminal prosecution or conviction for a person to be listed.
Thackray was sanctioned for having engaged, or attempting to engage, in activities or transactions that have materially contributed to, or pose a significant risk of materially contributing to, the international proliferation of illicit drugs or their means of production, Ofac alleged in a statement last month.
Thackray was charged with importing nearly a kilogram of cocaine into New Zealand in 2014 and subsequently jailed, NZ police said in a statement acknowledging the Ofac sanctions. Leung was also convicted in New Zealand for procuring and possessing methamphetamine and amphetamine, and is the director of two New Zealand-registered companies sanctioned by Ofac.
Ofac also targeted Lithuanian nationals Rokas Karpavicius and Virginijus Labutis, who they also allege are involved in the trafficking of cocaine and methamphetamine, money laundering and corruption.
“Drug traffickers earn significantly higher commissions on the transport of illicit drugs to Australia and New Zealand, where the increased profits offset the high costs of trafficking narcotics,” Ofac said in the statement.
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Karpavicius and Labutis coordinated “significant” narcotics shipments from Central and South America to Europe, Australia, New Zealand, the Pacific Islands, and the US, Ofac alleged.
Karpavicius has been arrested in multiple jurisdictions – including New Zealand – since the 1990s for drug-related charges, and has allegedly laundered drug trafficking money. Ofac alleged he is the majority owner of a number of companies, including Switzerland-based Dragon Secure GmbH.
Labutis was arrested in October 2024 on an Interpol red notice for drug trafficking charges.
Any property or entities of sanctioned individuals in the US are blocked and reported to Ofac, and any transactions within the US that involve such blocked property are prohibited.
