Treasury Issues Historic Orders to Counter Fentanyl Trafficking, Prompting Response from Mexico
On June 25, 2025, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) – the bureau responsible for collecting and analyzing financial information to combat money laundering, terrorism financing, and other financial crimes both domestically and abroad – issued unprecedented orders targeting three Mexico-based financial institutions for their alleged roles in laundering money linked to trafficking of the illicit narcotic, fentanyl. These actions, the first under the FEND Off Fentanyl Act and the Fentanyl Sanctions Act, aim to disrupt the financial networks supporting drug cartels and contributing to America’s growing opioid crisis. In the meantime however, another move by the U.S. government against Mexico has again escalated tensions with their neighbor to the south, as Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has since sharply criticized the targeted measures over a “lack of evidence” to substantially back such a move.
As part of the global crusade to limit the proliferation of illicit financial activities internationally, the United States and its global counterparts have long sought ways in which to counter the large-scale operations of drug trafficking rings contributing to rapid destabilization in and surrounding the areas in which they operate. Drug trafficking as a whole encompasses the cultivation, manufacturing, distribution and ultimate sales of illicit substances and remains a significant threat against the health of the populations to which they are funneled, as well as to the integrity of the international financial system. While difficult to pinpoint its exact value, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) estimates the international drug trade accounts for between 2%-4% of the global GDP or ~$1.6 trillion (USD)1– with many analysts believing that even this substantial figure is rather conservative.
With the opioid epidemic remaining a major crisis across America, the U.S. government has announced rolling sanctions against major players operating in the fentanyl trade in particular since 2023. As such, the latest measure becomes the first official action taken under the FEND Off Fentanyl Act (Fentanyl Eradication and Narcotics Deterrence Act, which has expanded sanctions against traffickers and creators of fentanyl, while also enabling the executive branch to use proceeds from seized fentanyl-trafficking assets for further enforcement of the legislation. All told, the three Mexican financial institutions identified by FinCEN as having primary money laundering concerns within these orders are CIBanco, Intercam, and Vector Casa de Bolsa. The U.S. Treasury has accused CIBanco, with over $7 billion in assets, Intercam, with $4 billion, and Vector, managing nearly $11 billion, of facilitating millions in illicit transactions for cartels like the Beltran-Leyva, Jalisco New Generation (CJNG), Sinaloa, and Gulf Cartels.3 Specific allegations mentioned as part of the announcement include a CIBanco employee knowingly opening an account in 2023 to launder $10 million for a Gulf Cartel member, Intercam executives meeting with suspected CJNG members in 2022 to discuss money laundering, and Vector enabling a Sinaloa Cartel money mule to launder $2 million from 2013 to 2021.3 The Treasury also claims these institutions processed payments to acquire the precursor chemicals from China which are ultimately used to produce fentanyl – the specific drug linked to tens of thousands of overdose deaths in America on an annual basis.
“Financial facilitators like CIBanco, Intercam, and Vector are enabling the poisoning of countless Americans by moving money on behalf of cartels,”3 said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. The sanctions, effective 21 days after publication in the Federal Register, prohibit U.S. financial institutions from engaging in certain transactions with the targeted firms, effectively cutting them off from the U.S. financial system.
While the Treasury’s press release on these actions highlight that they were taken “within the broad context of the strong U.S.-Mexico inter-governmental relationship”, the hallmarks of which reportedly include close collaboration and timely information exchange – Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum responded defiantly shortly after news of the announcement came forward. During her morning press briefing, a frustrated Sheinbaum demanded “hard evidence” of any criminal wrongdoing on behalf of the named banks. Sheinbaum continued, noting that Mexican regulators, after receiving initial U.S. information regarding their respective probes, conducted their own investigations and found only minor administrative infractions, and no acute evidence of criminal activity. “We are not going to cover for anyone. There is no impunity,”2 Sheinbaum emphasized before adding, “It has to be demonstrated that, effectively, there was money laundering. Not with statements, but with hard evidence.”2 She also publicly requested that the U.S. government therein provide proof to enable further collaboration on the cases before the sanctions were finalized.
As expected, the sanctioned institutions have too denied the allegations levied against them. CIBanco stated it “does not hold commercial relations outside of legality” and pledged cooperation with authorities. Intercam rejected claims of involvement in “illegal practices,” while Vector, owned by Alfonso Romo, former chief of staff to ex-President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, “categorically” denied compromising its integrity. In the short-term, Mexico’s National Banking and Securities Commission announced it would temporarily take over management of CIBanco and Intercam to protect creditors, though Mexican officials and the banking association insisted their financial system remains stable.
The latest measures follow broader U.S. actions taken against Mexico under the Trump Administration, including the February designation of Mexican cartels as terrorist organizations, which kickstarted the now-rocky relations, followed by the imposition of 25% tariffs on Mexican imports to further curb fentanyl trafficking and its migration into America. Sheinbaum, who recently deployed 10,000 National Guard troops to the U.S.-Mexico border to address these very concerns, has maintained a cooperative yet firm stance with respect to relations with the U.S. under Trump and has firmly rejected subordination. The latest dispute compounds ongoing U.S.-Mexico tensions, with Sheinbaum arguing that robust trade with China, not illicit activity, explains the financial ties cited by the U.S. in their latest move.
Global RADAR will provide additional updates on these sanctions and their fallout as they become available.
Citations
1. Draft: Study on Illicit Financial Flows Resulting from Drug …, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime , 15 Mar. 2011.
2. Olivares, Jose. “Mexican President Demands Proof after US Accuses Banks of Laundering Drug Money.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 26 June 2025.
3. Treasury Issues Historic Orders under Powerful New Authority to Counter Fentanyl.” U.S. Department of the Treasury, 25 June 2025.