US sanctions Mexican banks, alleging connections to cartel money laundering

Three Mexican banks have been subject to sanctions from the US, alleging money laundering by drug cartels.

The US Department of Treasury tied the banks CIBanco, Intercam Banco, and Vector Casa de Bolsa to the deadly synthetic drug fentanyl’s cross-border trafficking on Wednesday.

It accused them of “playing a longstanding and crucial role in facilitating payments for the procurement of precursor chemicals needed to produce fentanyl” and “operating in laundering millions of dollars on behalf of Mexico-based cartels.”

The administration of US President Donald Trump has launched a wider campaign to pressure Latin American gangs, criminal networks, and drug traffickers.

In addition to using tariffs to pressure Mexico’s government to increase the enforcement of illegal traffic across the border, the campaign included naming several organizations as “foreign terrorist organizations.”

The Fentanyl Sanctions Act and the FEND Off Fentanyl Act, which were passed to expand the Treasury Department’s ability to combat money laundering linked to opioid trafficking, were the first to be targeted, according to a statement from the Treasury Department.

Transfers between the targeted Mexican banks and US banks would be prohibited, despite the uncertainty over the restrictions’ potential.

The banks were accused in a statement by Secretary of State Scott Bessent of “enabling the poisoning of countless Americans by moving money on behalf of cartels, making them vital cogs in the fentanyl supply chain,” according to Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent.

However, the Secretariat of Finance and Public Credit of Mexico responded to the sanctions by saying it had not yet received conclusive proof to support them.

The Finance Ministry stated in a statement, “We want to be clear: We will act to the fullest extent of the law” if we have conclusive evidence of these three financial institutions’ illegal activities.

“We have no information in this regard to this date, though.”

CIBanco did not respond to the accusations right away. The Beltran-Leyva Cartel, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), and the Gulf Cartel were all linked to money laundering, according to the US Treasury Department.

Intercam, which is also accused of having connections to the CJNG cartel, did not respond.

The Sinaloa Cartel and Gulf Cartel, a brokerage firm, said the US’s claims that its operations were tied to drug traffickers were false.