US Sanctions Sinaloa Cash-to-Crypto Laundering Ring

The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control announced sanctions on more than a dozen individuals and entities tied to two networks linked to the Sinaloa Cartel. The designations target groups that collected bulk cash in the United States, converted narcotics proceeds into cryptocurrency and moved funds to cartel leadership in Mexico.

OFAC identified Armando de Jesus Ojeda Aviles as the head of a laundering network handling proceeds from fentanyl and other narcotics. The agency described Jesus Gonzalez Penuelas as a fugitive who led a separate trafficking and laundering organization.

According to OFAC, the networks used a mix of U.S. cash pickups, cryptocurrency transfers and Mexico-based brokers tied to Los Chapitos, a faction led by Ivan and Alfredo Guzman Salazar, sons of Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman Loera, who remain at large. The agency said cash collected from U.S. drug sales was moved to intermediaries, converted into digital currency and then routed to cartel leadership in Mexico.

Other individuals named include Jesus Alonso Aispuro Felix, identified as a broker who arranged digital currency transfers, and Rodrigo Alarcon Palomares, identified as a facilitator of money pickups. OFAC said the designations target the full financial chain used to move proceeds from U.S.-based collections into crypto and onward to cartel leaders.

OFAC warned of immediate legal and financial consequences for the designated parties. “As a result of today's action, all property and interests in property of the designated or blocked persons described above that are in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons are blocked and must be reported to OFAC,” the agency said. The statement adds that any entity 50 percent or more owned by a blocked person is frozen and U.S. persons are prohibited from engaging in transactions with the listed individuals and entities.

Sanctions do not carry criminal penalties by themselves but can freeze assets and limit the ability of designated people and companies to use U.S. banks or engage in dollar-denominated transactions. OFAC identified at least one designated person as a fugitive. The Treasury has increasingly targeted networks that convert illicit cash into cryptocurrency, citing the use of digital assets to conceal transfers and move value across borders.