(The Center Square) – The Trump administration on Monday turned the heat up on Mexico’s Sinaloa drug cartel, targeting its money laundering operation and financers.
The U.S. Department of Treasury sanctioned six members of the cartel and seven other entities, freezing their assets in the U.S.
Treasury also alerted banks and other financial institutions “to be vigilant to bulk cash smuggling and repatriation by Mexico-based transnational criminal organizations.”
“Our administration is committed to cutting off their funding, and neutralizing the threat through all available tools,” U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Monday in announcing the sanctions. “We leveled sanctions against six individuals and seven entities involved in a money laundering operation, cutting off financing for these evil people.”
The Sinaloa cartel and other drug cartels are responsible for smuggling untold amounts of fentanyl and other illicit drugs into the U.S., killings thousands of Americans.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio last month designated Sinaloa and other cartels and violent groups as foreign terrorist organizations, The Center Square previously reported.
The Center Square first reported on transnational criminal organizations using asymmetrical and nontraditional warfare targeting Americans as a reason some said Texas should declare an invasion in 2022.
On Trump’s first day in office, he declared an invasion at the southern border, the first president in modern history to do so. Trump’s invasion declaration cites transnational criminal organizations waging war against Americans creating a national security threat.
“The Sinaloa cartel has invaded our southern border,” Bessent said Monday. “They have tortured and murdered thousands of our citizens. … Today’s action builds on the great and coordinated work across the Trump administration, from the White House, to DHS to the DOJ.”
• The Center Square contributor Bethany Blankley contributed to this report.
