The Trump administration has frozen millions of dollars in assets belonging to Tareck El Aissami, as it labelled Venezuela’s powerful vice-president an international drug trafficker. The US Treasury designated Mr El Aissami a drug kingpin for allegedly “playing a significant role in international narcotics trafficking”. The move came just one month after embattled Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro tapped the former governor of Aragua state as his deputy and potential successor. Mr El Aissami has long denied any criminal ties. US officials said Mr El Aissami had facilitated multiple 1-tonne narcotic shipments to Mexico and the US from Venezuela. The Treasury also designated Samark López Bello — an international businessman described as his “primary frontman” — for acting on Mr El Aissami’s behalf. It also moved to block a 13-company network linked to Mr Lopez Bello or others in the US, the UK, Venezuela, Panama and the British Virgin Islands. John Smith, head of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, said the action was the “culmination of a multiyear investigation”. In the Miami area alone, the US froze real estate linked to Mr El Aissami that “can be measured in the tens of millions of dollars”, according to a US official. Frozen assets linked to Mr López Bello included waterfront property in Miami and a Gulfstream aircraft.