The Sinaloa cartel has had a plethora of sanctions lodged against it by the Trump administration in a move to kneecap one of Mexico’s deadliest crime organizations.
According to Fox News, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated six individuals, and seven entities involved in a money-laundering network on Tuesday.
The network reportedly supports the Sinaloa cartel, which has now been designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) at the direction of President Donald Trump. The cartel is one group responsible for the fentanyl and methamphetamine crisis sweeping the U.S.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the money laundering is the “lifeblood” of the cartel.
“Laundered drug money is the lifeblood of the Sinaloa cartel’s narco-terrorist enterprise, only made possible through trusted financial facilitators like those we have designated today,” Bessent said.
Individuals and organizations hit by the sanctions will have any assets held in institutions within the U.S. frozen and reported to the Office of Foreign Assets Control.
In a video posted to X, Bessent detailed all the moves the Trump administration has made to squash the cartel from operating in the U.S.
“As President Trump and I have stressed many times, economic security is national security,” Bessent said. “One of the most important roles we play at the Treasury is safeguarding American interests against foreign adversaries. Today, I’m proud to announce that we’ve taken decisive action against the Sinaloa cartel, one of the most notoriously violent criminal and drug trafficking organizations in the world.”
Bessent noted that the administration is working to cut off the funding to the cartel and has financial institutions helping in uncovering money smuggling.
“Our administration is committed to cutting off their funding and neutralizing the threat through all available tools,” Bessent said. “We leveled sanctions against six individuals and seven entities involved in a money laundering operation. Cutting off financing for these evil people. Today, the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network also issued an alert to help financial institutions detect and deter bulk cash smuggling by trans-national criminal organizations in Mexico.”
The cartel is well known for its violence both in the U.S. and in Mexico, where local residents close to the southern border are often terrorized by the group.
“The Sinaloa cartel has invaded our southern border,” Bessent said. “They have tortures and murdered countless of our citizens, dedicated law enforcement agents like Kiki Camarena and veterans like Nicholas Quets, who was only 31 years old when he was ruthlessly taken from us.”
Bessent further pointed out the carnage that the cartel has caused by smuggling dangerous and addictive drugs over the border but noted that a message has now been sent to the cartels that “American strength is back.”
“The group is responsible for a significant amount of the fentanyl and illicit drugs brought into the United States,” Bessent said. “Drugs that continue to kill innocent Americans and destroy families every single day. Today’s action builds on the great and coordinated work across the Trump administration, from the White House to DHS to the DOJ. We have a steady drumbeat of regulatory and sanctions actions, as well as national security actions, sending a clear message that American strength is back.”
