iStock/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) — The U.S. has imposed sanctions on Venezuela’s newly-appointed Vice President Tareck el-Aissami, accusing him of drug trafficking and money laundering and designating him as a “kingpin.”

Companies in the U.S. will be unable to do business with Aissami under the new sanctions, according to a release from the Treasury Department, and his frontman Samark Lopez Bello. Both the vice president and Bello’s U.S. assets were frozen, which included five companies based in Florida.

The release said the sanctions came after a multi-year investigation from the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).

“This case highlights our continued focus on narcotics traffickers and those who help launder their illicit proceeds through the United States,” OFAC Acting Director John Smith said. “Denying a safe haven for illicit assets in the United States and protecting the U.S. financial system from abuse remain top priorities of the Treasury Department.”

Copyright © 2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.