The U.S. Department of the Treasury launched the first dart against the Mexican financial system by pointing out three institutions: CIBanco, Intercam, and Vector for facilitating money laundering associated with the trafficking of fentanyl and other synthetic opioids by drug cartels.
"Financial facilitators like CIBanco, Intercam, and Vector are enabling the poisoning of countless Americans by moving money for the cartels, making them key players in the fentanyl supply chain," stated Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
With this, for the first time, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued actions under the Fentanyl Eradication and Narcotics Dissuasion Act, which directly points to the Mexican financial system facilitating the money laundering of drug cartels in Mexico.
"CIBanco and Intercam, commercial banks with over $7 billion and $4 billion in total assets, respectively, and Vector, a brokerage firm managing nearly $11 billion in assets, have jointly played a vital and long-standing role in laundering millions of dollars for Mexico-based cartels and facilitating payments for the acquisition of chemical precursors needed for fentanyl production," stated the Treasury.