Those accused converted cash from drug sales into crypto assets and sent them to Mexico.
The Treasury collaborated with different entities, such as Chainalysis, to confirm money laundering.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the United States Department of the Treasury sanctioned more than a dozen people and companies linked to the Mexican Sinaloa Cartel, specifically the Los Chapitos faction.
According to the official report of the institution, this criminal network used a sophisticated system based on cryptocurrencies to launder the profits obtained from the illicit sale of fentanyl in the United States. and transfer funds to Mexico in an agile manner.
According to OFAC, the illicit financial scheme was led by Armando de Jesús Ojeda Avilés, identified as the main money laundering operator for the Los Chapitos faction in the state of Sinaloa.
The criminal organization used a structure of couriers in the United States in charge of collecting cash derived from the distribution of narcotics in states such as California, Texas, Colorado, Washington, Utah and Nevada.
Once the physical capital was collected, informal intermediaries such as Jesús Alonso Aispuro Félix, identified as the network’s main money broker, processed large-scale transfers. These brokers transformed cash into digital assets, mainly using stablecoins to facilitate the cross-border movement of resources. without going through traditional banking controls.
The operation is the result of an investigation coordinated by the National Security Working Group, the Drug Enforcement Agency and the Financial Intelligence Unit of Mexico, with the technical support of the analysis and research firm Chainalysis.
According to the technical data provided by Chainalysis Reactor, the wallets associated with the scheme carried out stablecoin exchanges on decentralized exchanges. Subsequently, the funds were sent to centralized exchange houses with the ultimate goal of liquidating the digital currencies. and withdraw cash in Mexican territory to finance the operations of the criminal group.
In addition to the Ojeda Avilés network, the authorities issued sanctions against the cell of Jesús González Peñuelas, a historical drug distributor that operates with laundering centers in Sinaloa and Chihuahua. The official designation also covered front companies used to divert funds, including the security firm Grupo Especial Mamba Negra and the Mexican restaurant Gorditas Chiwas.
The measure of the North American organization immediately freezes all assets and interests of those under US jurisdiction and prohibits any commercial transactions with the designated entities.
The use of surveillance tools on decentralized networks allowed US authorities to identify transaction patterns that attempted to conceal the origin of funds. With this blockade, the United States government seeks to degrade the economic infrastructure of drug cartels by monitoring the digital environment.