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.
The sanctions will prohibit US banks from making certain transactions with the three Mexican firms.
The Treasury Department said it aims to deny anyone associated with Mexican drug cartels deemed Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs) and/or Specially Designated Global Terrorists by the Trump administration “access to the US financial system.”
You can read additional information and official statement here.
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