U.S. sanctions 3 Mexican financial firms over fentanyl-linked money laundering

The U.S. Treasury Department has designated three Mexican financial institutions as “primary money laundering concerns” for their alleged roles in facilitating illicit opioid trafficking, including fentanyl, on behalf of Mexico-based cartels.

The move marks the first use of new authorities under the Fentanyl Sanctions Act and the FEND Off Fentanyl Act.

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), a bureau of the Treasury Department, issued orders on Wednesday targeting CIBanco, Intercam Banco, and Vector Casa de Bolsa.

The orders prohibit U.S. financial institutions from conducting certain transactions involving the three entities and their accounts, including those tied to virtual currencies.

CIBanco and Intercam, both commercial banks with assets exceeding $4 billion, and Vector, a brokerage firm managing nearly $11 billion, are accused of facilitating the laundering of millions of dollars for cartels and supporting transactions for precursor chemicals used to produce fentanyl.

The cartels named include the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), Gulf Cartel, Beltrán-Leyva Cartel, and the Sinaloa Cartel.

FinCEN said a CIBanco employee in 2023 knowingly helped set up an account to launder $10 million for a Gulf Cartel member. The bank is also alleged to have processed more than $2.1 million in payments from Mexico-based companies to suppliers in China of precursor chemicals from 2021 to 2024.

In the case of Intercam, FinCEN cited meetings in late 2022 between executives and suspected CJNG members to discuss money laundering schemes involving China. The agency said Intercam processed over $1.5 million in payments for chemicals linked to drug production during the same period.

Vector is accused of facilitating laundering activities for the Sinaloa and Gulf Cartels. Between 2013 and 2021, a Sinaloa cartel associate allegedly used Vector to launder $2 million from the U.S. to Mexico. From 2018 to 2023, Vector also processed more than $1 million in payments to known chemical exporters in China.

CIBanco responded by stating that it has no ties to “activities outside the law” and that no elements have been identified which compromise the bank’s operations or conduct. Intercam said it “categorically denies any link between this institution and any illicit activity, particularly money laundering.”

Vector stated that the cited transactions were ordinary operations with legally established companies, and that reviews by Mexican authorities have only resulted in administrative observations, which have been “properly addressed and sanctioned.”

The sanctions follow a broader effort by the Trump administration to target drug trafficking organizations through financial and legal measures.

In January, President Trump issued an executive order to designate certain cartels as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs) and Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGTs). A month later, the Treasury and State Departments designated six Mexico-based cartels—including CJNG, Sinaloa, and Gulf—as FTOs and SDGTs.

“These actions affirm Treasury’s commitment to using all tools at our disposal to counter the threat posed by criminal and terrorist organizations trafficking fentanyl and other narcotics,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement. He described the financial institutions as “vital cogs in the fentanyl supply chain.”