Wed Jun 25 23:26:57 UTC 2025: **News Article:**

**Mexican Finance Ministry Disputes US Sanctions on Banks Accused of Fentanyl Money Laundering**

**Mexico City** – The Mexican Secretariat of Finance and Public Credit has stated that it has not received conclusive evidence to support the United States’ recent sanctions against three Mexican financial institutions: CIBanco, Intercam Banco, and Vector Casa de Bolsa. The U.S. Treasury Department announced Wednesday that it was levying sanctions against the banks, accusing them of laundering millions of dollars for Mexican drug cartels and facilitating the procurement of precursor chemicals used in the production of fentanyl.

The U.S. Treasury Department alleges that these banks played a vital role in enabling the cross-border trafficking of fentanyl, contributing to the opioid crisis in the United States. The sanctions, implemented under the Fentanyl Sanctions Act and the FEND Off Fentanyl Act, would effectively block transfers between the targeted banks and U.S. financial institutions. Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent stated that these banks were “enabling the poisoning of countless Americans” by moving money for cartels.

The Mexican Finance Ministry, however, has countered these claims, stating that while it is prepared to act on conclusive proof of illicit activities, it has not yet received sufficient information from the U.S. government to warrant such action.

The U.S. Treasury Department accused CIBanco of connections to money laundering by the Beltran-Leyva Cartel, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) and the Gulf Cartel. Intercam is also accused of ties to the CJNG cartel. Vector, the brokerage firm, which was linked to money laundering by the Sinaloa Cartel and Gulf Cartel, has vehemently denied the allegations, calling the U.S. claims “false” and pledging to cooperate to clarify the situation. CIBanco and Intercam did not immediately respond to the allegations.

The sanctions are part of a broader U.S. pressure campaign against Latin American criminal networks and drug traffickers.

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