Reported by KARINA SUÁREZ
(Summary version featured below)
In a closed-door meeting during Mexico’s annual Banking Convention in Nayarit, U.S. Treasury officials and Mexican banking leaders met to strengthen anti-money laundering coordination between the two countries. Emilio Romano, president of the Mexican Banking Association, announced Mexico’s readiness to work closely with U.S. counterparts, emphasizing the need for faster information exchange and more agile detection mechanisms. The visit comes amid rising U.S. pressure on Mexico under the Trump administration’s intensified campaign against drug cartels, which includes trade threats and tougher sanctions.
The Trump administration has designated six major Mexican cartels and two South American gangs as international terrorist organizations — a move that significantly expands the scope of financial enforcement. This classification enables U.S. authorities to freeze assets and prohibit American entities from doing business with cartel affiliates, effectively isolating them from the formal financial system. These sanctions have already resulted in asset freezes and restrictions, targeting groups like the CJNG and the Sinaloa Cartel, long considered linchpins of the region’s drug trade.
According to the DEA, these criminal networks have diversified their income streams, relying heavily on fuel theft and money laundering via cryptocurrency, shell companies, and Chinese intermediaries. The agency’s latest report highlights how fuel smuggling — known in Mexico as huachicol — costs Mexico and the U.S. billions in lost revenue annually. In response, the U.S. conducted more than 300 large-scale cash seizures in 2024, mostly in border states like Texas and California, underscoring a renewed push to cut off the cartels’ financial lifelines.
Yet experts warn that legal frameworks in Mexico remain outdated, and enforcement is often undermined by corruption and weak institutions. Analysts point to increasing cartel collaboration with Chinese underground banks and the use of small businesses as money laundering vehicles. While Mexico technically complies with global anti-money laundering standards, experts say stronger political will and institutional resilience are needed. As U.S. financial scrutiny intensifies, the binational effort to combat organized crime is entering a more confrontational and consequential phase.
Financial Crime News Briefs 