MEXICO CITY – The U.S. Treasury Department has extended the deadline by 45 days for restrictions on certain transactions involving three major Mexican financial institutions accused of laundering money for fentanyl trafficking operations.
The sanctions target CiBanco, Intercam Banco, and Vector Casa de Bolsa.
“CIBanco and Intercam, commercial banks with over $7 and $4 billion in total assets, respectively, and Vector, a brokerage firm managing nearly $11 billion in assets, 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 Department said in a statement.
The new deadline with the sanctioned firms is now Sept. 4, 2025.
Mexico’s finance ministry said the extension follows “dialogue and collaboration between the Mexican government and U.S. financial authorities.” Since the initial sanctions were announced in June, Mexico temporarily took control of the three institutions to protect creditors and depositors, according to Reuters.
Each financial institution is accused of aiding a different faction of Mexico’s drug trafficking network:
- CiBanco allegedly processed more than $2.1 million in payments to China-based companies shipping precursor chemicals for fentanyl production between 2021 and 2024. In 2023, a bank employee also allegedly helped create an account to launder $10 million on behalf of a Gulf Cartel member.
- Intercam Banco is accused of engaging directly with members of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) to arrange money laundering operations involving wire transfers from China. From 2021 to 2024, more than $1.5 million was allegedly funneled through the bank to Chinese companies linked to fentanyl chemical shipments.
- Vector Casa de Bolsa is accused of helping a Sinaloa Cartel money mule launder $2 million from the U.S. to Mexico between 2013 and 2021. From 2018 to 2023, Vector also allegedly facilitated more than $1 million in transactions to China-based companies connected to the fentanyl trade.
