An SDGT designation is made under authority of U.S.
Executive Order 13224 of September 23, 2001, as amended by Executive Order 13268 of July 2, 2002, and Executive Order 13284 of January 23, 2003, and Title 31, Parts 595, 596, and 597 of the U.S.
Code of Federal Regulations, among other U.S. laws and regulations. The main regulatory framework underlying the SDGT designation was established two weeks after the
September 11 attacks in 2001 by U.S. president
George W. Bush. The designation SDGT is one of several types of designations of persons to whom one or more OFAC-administered sanctions apply; these include country-specific and counter narcotics trafficking, non-proliferation, and transnational criminal organization-related sanctions, and potentially under sanctions related to illicit trading in rough diamonds, although this had not been applied of early November 2011. OFAC publishes an integrated list of persons designated under its various sanctions programs that is known as the
Specially Designated Nationals List, under which SDGT listings are included. Individuals and companies designated as "Specially Designated Nationals" are known as "SDNs". Most SDGT SDNs are foreign persons, but in at least one case—that of the late
Anwar al-Awlaki (also known by various aliases)—an American citizen was designated as an SDGT. To avoid designated persons or entities transferring funds out of the jurisdiction or otherwise rendering a determination ineffective, section 10 of Executive Order 13224 authorises the dispensing of prior notice of the determination to the persons subject to a determination. Organizations designated as SDGTs include
al-Qaeda, the
Islamic State,
Hamas,
Hezbollah, the
Houthi movement,
Boko Haram and
LTTE. Notably, as the 21st century has progressed, several organized crime individuals have been officially added to the list, such as
Dawood Ibrahim,
Iván Archivaldo Guzmán Salazar, and
Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, as well as criminal organizations such as the
Jalisco New Generation Cartel,
Cartel of the Suns,
Gulf Cartel,
Sinaloa Cartel,
La Nueva Familia Michoacana,
Northeast Cartel,
Carteles Unidos,
Tren de Aragua, and
Mara Salvatrucha. ==See also==