https://www.arise.tv/us-sanctions-three-mexican-banks-over-alleged-fentanyl-money-laundering-ties/

The United States has imposed sweeping sanctions on three Mexican financial institutions, accusing them of laundering money for drug cartels involved in the deadly fentanyl trade.

On Wednesday, the US Department of the Treasury named CIBanco, Intercam Banco, and the brokerage Vector Casa de Bolsa, alleging they helped move millions of dollars for powerful cartels and facilitated payments for chemicals used in fentanyl production. The action comes as part of a broader US crackdown on drug trafficking and organised crime in Latin America.

“These institutions have played a longstanding and vital role in laundering cartel proceeds,” the Treasury said in a statement. The department connected the banks to notorious groups including the Sinaloa Cartel, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), the Beltran-Leyva Cartel, and the Gulf Cartel.

The sanctions fall under the newly enacted Fentanyl Sanctions Act and FEND Off Fentanyl Act, which expand Washington’s ability to target financial networks behind opioid trafficking. As a result, any transactions between the named Mexican banks and US financial institutions will be blocked, though the full scope of enforcement remains unclear.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent condemned the banks alleged role in the crisis. “They have enabled the poisoning of countless Americans by moving cartel money,” he said, calling them “vital cogs in the fentanyl supply chain.”

However, Mexico’s government pushed back.

The country’s Secretariat of Finance and Public Credit said it had not received compelling evidence supporting the US claims. “If there is conclusive proof of wrongdoing, we will act,” the ministry stated. “But as of now, we have none.”

CIBanco and Intercam have not publicly responded to the accusations. Vector Casa de Bolsa, meanwhile, denied the claims outright, calling the allegations “false” and asserting the firm’s institutional integrity. “Vector categorically rejects any accusation that compromises its operations,” the company said, pledging cooperation with any investigation.

The US move is the latest in a series of aggressive steps aimed at disrupting the fentanyl supply chain and pressuring Mexico to tighten enforcement against drug trafficking.