The Trump administration announced sanctions on Wednesday against Mexican banks that it says are fueling the illegal trade of fentanyl flowing into the U.S.
The Treasury Department issued orders banning financial transactions with the banks over alleged money laundering at the behest of Mexican cartels. The department said millions of dollars in illicit payments aided the transmission of fentanyl from China to Mexico, where criminals frequently traffic deadly opioids across the southern U.S. border. (RELATED: Feds ‘Tracing Money’ Behind LA Riots In Expanding Probe)
“Financial facilitators like CIBanco, Intercam, and Vector are enabling the poisoning of countless Americans by moving money on behalf of cartels, making them vital cogs in the fentanyl supply chain,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said about the three institutions.
The banks served as vehicles for those “laundering millions of dollars on behalf of Mexico-based cartels and facilitating payments for the procurement of precursor chemicals needed to produce fentanyl,” the Treasury Department said. Their actions included processing payments from Mexico to China-based entities shipping the chemicals to America’s southern neighbor, the agency said.
Tens of thousands of fentanyl overdose deaths occur in the U.S. each year, federal data show. Officials seized enough fentanyl at the southern border to kill 14 billion people under the Biden administration’s lax border policies, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Fentanyl traffic at the southern border was cut in half by March after President Donald Trump ramped up immigration enforcement.
The Treasury Department’s move earned praise from Republican Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott of South Carolina, who supported a bipartisan fentanyl trafficking law that the Trump administration invoked for the first time.
“Treasury’s action today – thanks to the authorities provided by our bill – is yet another demonstration of President Trump’s commitment to keeping our communities safe,” Scott said.
CIBanco, Intercam, and Vector did not respond to requests for comment.
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