❓WHAT HAPPENED: Mexico’s government is defending three financial institutions accused by the U.S. Treasury Department of laundering cartel money and facilitating payments for fentanyl precursors to China.
👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: Mexico’s Secretariat of Treasury and Public Credit (SHCP), the U.S. Department of the Treasury, CIBanco SA, Intercam SA, and Vector Casa De Bolsa.
📍WHEN & WHERE: Mexico’s SHCP issued a statement this week.
💬KEY QUOTE: “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.” — Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent
🎯IMPACT: Tensions between U.S. and Mexican authorities over drug cartel-related corruption and financial crimes are increasing.
Mexico’s leftist government is rushing to defend two banks and a brokerage firm accused by the U.S. Department of the Treasury of laundering cartel funds and aiding in payments to China for fentanyl precursors.
“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,” Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent said in a statement released June 25.
Mexico’s Secretariat of Treasury and Public Credit (SHCP) said they requested proof from the U.S. Treasury upon being notified of the actions against the cartel-linked institutions. According to the SHCP, their internal review found no evidence of criminal wrongdoing.
The SHCP claimed that the U.S. Treasury’s information pertained to a small number of transactions with “legally constituted Chinese companies,” which they argued were routine and consistent with legitimate commerce. A review by Mexico’s National Banking and Securities Commission (CNBV) reportedly found only administrative faults, not criminal activity.
The allegations against the institutions—CIBanco SA, Intercam SA, and Vector Casa De Bolsa—were part of a broader accusation that they had worked with drug cartels to launder millions in drug proceeds and facilitate payments for fentanyl precursors.
President Donald J. Trump vowed to crack down on fentanyl trafficking and combat the cartels, which he has designated as foreign terrorist entities. Currently operating in all 50 states, the cartels have attacked Border Patrol officials and even used drones as part of an effort to attack those defending the southern border.
Image via Mexico City Government.
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