Trump admin sanctions three Mexican financial firms over suspected links to drug cartels

The Trump administration on Wednesday restricted US banks from making transactions with three Mexican financial firms over concerns that they are laundering money for drug cartels. The sanctions – the first implemented under the Fentanyl Sanctions Act and the FEND Off Fentanyl Act – targeted Mexican banks CIBanco and Intercam Banco and the brokerage firm Vector Casa de Bolsa, which have a combined $22 billion in assets, according to the Treasury Department. “Cartels have exploited Mexico-based financial institutions to move money, enabling the vicious fentanyl supply chain that has poisoned countless Americans,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent wrote on X. “Through the first use of a new powerful authority granted by Congress, Treasury will effectively require US financial institutions to sever ties with 3 Mexico-based financial institutions for laundering money on behalf of cartels,” Bessent added.”Both the United States and Mexico are committed to financial systems with strong anti-money laundering/countering the financing of terrorism controls and these actions affirm Treasury’s commitment to using all tools at our disposal to counter the threat posed by terrorist organizations.” The sanctions were implemented after the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) determined that CIBanco, Intercam and Vector were “moving money on behalf of cartels” and had become “vital cogs in the fentanyl supply chain,” according to Bessent. FinCen’s investigation found a “long-standing pattern of associations, transactions, and provision of financial services” between CIBanco and Intercam and several Mexican drug trafficking groups, including Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) and Gulf Cartel. Between 2021 and 2024, CIBanco and Intercam processed over $3.6 million in purchases of fentanyl precursor chemicals from China, shipped to Mexico, for “illicit purposes,” according to FinCen. The financial crimes wat...