The U.S. Treasury on Monday placed sanctions on six individuals and seven companies for their alleged connections to Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel. The cartel was designated as a foreign terrorist organization in February under the Trump administration.
The Treasury said that those who were named under the sanctions are using a “network of front companies and shell corporations” to launder money, often using things like currency exchange businesses along the U.S.–Mexico border and larger bulk cash pickups.
“We leveled sanctions against six individuals and seven entities involved in a money laundering operation, cutting off financing for these evil people.”
Bessent said in a written statement that money laundering “is the lifeblood” of the cartel and is “only made possible through trusted financial facilitators like those we have designated today.
“Treasury, as part of a whole-of-government approach to addressing this pressing national security threat, will use all available tools to target anyone who assists the cartels in furthering their campaign of crime and violence,” the secretary added.
The sanctions make it illegal to carry out business transactions with those listed, and warns that in addition to civil and criminal penalties, anyone violating the sanctions may be subject to sanctions themselves.
A news release issued by the Treasury named six individuals as money launderers for the Sinaloa Cartel: Enrique Dann Esparragoza Rosas, who runs what U.S. officials say is a money laundering organization in Baja California; Alan Viramontes Sesteaga, a high-ranking Sinaloa Cartel member; Israel Daniel Paez Vargas and Salvador Diaz Rodriguez, money launderers who work for the cartel; and Alberto David Benguiat Jimenez and Christian Noe Amador Valenzuela, who are part of a network that launders money from fentanyl sales for the organization.
The U.S. State Department recently designated the Sinaloa Cartel and several other criminal groups across Latin America as Foreign Terrorist Organizations. These include several other cartels based in Mexico, Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua gang, and the MS-13 gang.
On Trump’s first day in office, he declared an invasion at the U.S.–Mexico border, becoming the first president in modern history to make such a designation. He also has signed several other executive orders relating to the border and illegal immigration, ending birthright citizenship, invoking the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to deport certain individuals, and more.
Several U.S. district judges have blocked some of Trump’s executive activity, including the order ending birthright citizenship. Last month, in Washington, U.S. District Judge James Boasberg barred Trump from using the Alien Enemies Act to deport some alleged Tren de Aragua members to El Salvador, later demanding that the government provide information on why officials did not turn around a deportation flight.
In return, the administration told Boasberg that it was invoking the state secrets privilege to not provide information to him about the flights.
“The information sought by the Court is subject to the state secrets privilege because disclosure would pose reasonable danger to national security and foreign affairs,” Department of Justice officials wrote in a 10-page filing late last month.
