US blocks transactions with Mexican financial institutions in fentanyl crackdown

The US Treasury on Wednesday prohibited certain transactions with Mexico-based financial institutions CIBanco, Intercam Banco and Vector Casa de Bolsa as part of its new fentanyl sanctions authorities.

The actions by the Treasury-run Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) to declare the three institutions “as primary money laundering concerns” mark the first actions under the Fentanyl Sanctions Act and the FEND Off Fentanyl Act, the Treasury said in a statement.

Mexico’s Finance Ministry said in a statement that it was notified of the FinCEN investigation and asked the Treasury for evidence of illicit activity links to CIBanco, Intercam and Vector, but received no information.

“The FinCEN sanctions do not block property or cut off all global dollar-based activities of Mexican firms as other Treasury sanctions would, but they do prohibit U.S. transactions with their locations in Mexico, a U.S. Treasury official told reporters. “The action will have a similar effect of cutting institutions out of the U.S. financial system,” the official added.

The Treasury said that commercial banks CIBanco and Intercam have assets of over $7 billion and $4 billion, respectively, making them relatively small by global banking standards.

But the action against Vector, a brokerage firm that manages nearly $11 billion in assets and is one of the top 10 securities brokers in Mexico, “underscores the significance of our actions,” Deputy U.S. Treasury Secretary Michael Faulkender told reporters.

The Treasury said all three institutions “have collectively played a longstanding and vital role in laundering millions of dollars on behalf of Mexico-based cartels and facilitating payments for the procurement of precursor chemicals needed to produce fentanyl.”

The Treasury said that a CIBanco employee in 2023 knowingly facilitated the creation of an account to purportedly launder $10 million on behalf of a Gulf Cartel member and the bank processed over $2.1 million in payments on behalf of Mexico-based companies to China-based companies that shipped fentanyl precursor chemicals to Mexico for illicit purposes.

It said Intercam executives in late 2022 met directly with suspected CJNG cartel members to discuss money laundering schemes, including transferring funds from China.

Regarding the Vector sanctions, the Treasury said that from 2013 through 2021, a Sinaloa Cartel “money mule” employed various methods to launder $2 million from the United States to Mexico through Vector, while the firm also processed over $1 million in transactions between Mexican companies and Chinese companies known to have shipped precursor chemicals to Mexico.

“Vector categorically rejects any accusation that compromises its institutional integrity,” Vector said in a statement. It added that it reiterated its full willingness to collaborate with Mexican and U.S. authorities to clarify the situation.

CIBanco and Intercam did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Mexico’s Finance Ministry said that if it has conclusive information proving illicit activities involving the three institutions, it will act to the fullest extent of the law.

The sanctions add another potential obstacle to easing U.S.-Mexico trade tensions over U.S. President Donald Trump’s 25% punitive tariffs on many imports from Mexico, which are aimed at spurring action to halt the flow of fentanyl into the U.S.

“I want to affirm that under President Trump, the Treasury Department has taken and will continue to take historic action to ensure that cartels and drug traffickers cannot abuse the U.S. dollar to launder drug money and profit off the poisoning of Americans,” Faulkender said.

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