MEXICO CITY (AP) — The U.S. government is accusing three residents of Belize of helping Mexico's powerful Sinaloa cartel smuggle drugs north from Colombia.

The Treasury Department has designated John Zabaneh, his nephew Dion Zabaneh and their associate Daniel Moreno of using five Belize-based businesses to support the cartel's activities. The three men and five companies were designated as drug smugglers under the Kingpin Act, which bars U.S. citizens from doing business with them, and allows the U.S. government to freeze their assets.