The US Sanctions Three Mexican Banks for Supposed Connections to Fentanyl Money Laundering
The US accuses Mexican banks of laundering money from cartels connected to the trafficking of fentanyl, and Mexico demands hard evidence.
On charges of money laundering for drug gangs engaged in the lethal fentanyl trade, the United States has placed broad sanctions on three financial institutions in Mexico.
On Wednesday, the US Department of the Treasury accused CIBanco, Intercam Banco, and the brokerage Vector Casa de Bolsa of facilitating payments for chemicals used in the manufacturing of fentanyl and assisting in the transfer of millions of dollars for influential cartels. The US is stepping up its efforts to combat drug trafficking and organized crime in Latin America.
According to a statement from the Treasury, “these institutions have played a long and vital role in laundering cartel proceeds.” Among the infamous organizations the agency linked the banks to were the Gulf Cartel, the Beltran-Leyva Cartel, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), and the Sinaloa Cartel.
The penalties are part of the recently passed FEND Off Fentanyl Act and Fentanyl Sanctions Act, which give Washington more authority to target the financial networks responsible for opioid trafficking. Any transactions between the designated Mexican banks and US financial institutions will therefore be prohibited; however, it is still unclear how strictly this will be enforced.
The banks’ purported involvement in the crisis was denounced by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. He described them as “vital cogs in the fentanyl supply chain,” saying that they had “facilitated the poisoning of innumerable Americans by transferring cartel funds.”
The Mexican government, however, resisted.
According to the nation’s Secretariat of Finance and Public Credit, it has not been provided with strong proof to back up the US assertions. “We will act if there is conclusive proof of wrongdoing,” the ministry said. “But right now, we don’t have any.”
Intercam and CIBanco have not addressed the allegations in public. Conversely, Vector Casa de Bolsa categorically refuted the accusations, stating the firm’s institutional integrity and characterizing the assertions as “false.” “Vector firmly denies any charge that jeopardizes its business operations,” the corporation declared, promising to assist with any inquiry.
The United States’ action is the most recent in a string of forceful measures meant to pressure Mexico to strengthen its anti-drug trafficking enforcement and disrupt the fentanyl supply chain.
