Mexican Cartels Use Crypto to Buy Fentanyl Ingredients: U.S. Treasury Warns

The U.S. Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has warned financial firms about Mexican drug cartels using cryptocurrencies to purchase fentanyl ingredients. The advisory highlights the increasing use of bitcoin (BTC), ether (ETH), monero (XMR), and tether (USDT) by cartels to buy precursor chemicals from Chinese suppliers. These transactions often involve the use of hosted wallets at crypto firms, sometimes through secondary money transmitters. This pattern reflects concerns that have emerged in previous criminal and sanctions cases involving the illegal production and distribution of fentanyl. The advisory updates a 2019 FinCEN alert and highlights the ongoing threat posed by the use of crypto in the illicit drug trade, especially considering the rising number of fentanyl-related overdoses in the U.S.