https://www.wttlonline.com/stories/mexican-casinos-named-money-laundries,14486

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network moved to cut off a network of Mexico-based casinos tied to the Sinaloa Cartel, issuing a formal finding and a notice of proposed rulemaking designating transactions involving ten gambling establishments as “primary money laundering concerns.”

The action, coordinated with Mexico’s government and paired with concurrent OFAC sanctions, would sever the casinos’ access to the U.S. financial system under Section 311 of the USA PATRIOT Act.

FinCEN’s proposed special measure would prohibit covered U.S. financial institutions from opening or maintaining correspondent accounts used to process transactions tied to:

Emine Casino (San Luis Río Colorado, Sonora);

Casino Mirage (Culiacán, Sinaloa);

Midas Casino locations in Agua Prieta (Sonora), Guamúchil, Los Mochis, and Mazatlán (Sinaloa), and Rosarito (Baja California);

Palermo Casino (Nogales, Sonora); and

Skampa Casino sites in Ensenada (Baja California) and Villahermosa (Tabasco).

FinCEN concluded the establishments are controlled by a criminal organization that maintains “a longstanding and transactional financial relationship” with the Sinaloa Cartel, facilitating the laundering of narcotics proceeds and posing a national-security risk to the U.S. financial system.

The NPRM outlines the channels through which the casinos allegedly moved bulk cash, commingled illicit proceeds with gaming revenues, and relied on cross-border wire transfers to conceal the source of funds.

Treasury said Mexico cooperated in the investigation and that OFAC simultaneously designated members of the network responsible for laundering drug-trafficking proceeds on behalf of the cartel.

The measure follows FinCEN’s broader use of Section 311 authorities to isolate foreign financial actors that enable cartel operations.