Cartel and cryptocurrencies? Mexico has identified 12 exchanges linked to Jalisco Nueva Generación


IN SHORT

Mexico’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) has obtained information on 12 crypto platforms that operate without legal authorization. Many experts believe these exchanges are linked to the Jalisco Nueva Generación drug cartel.

Do Mexican cartels trade cryptocurrencies?

After receiving information from various sources, Mexico’s financial intelligence unit tracked down and identified 12 local cryptocurrency exchanges that operate illegally. During a recent seminar, Nieto Castillo – the head of the FIU – assured that the authorities would make efforts to solve this problem:

There are 12 platforms that are not registered and which we know are currently operating illegally … We are generating cases so that the General Prosecutor’s Office can act in this area.

Castillo has made suspicions that these exchanges may be linked to criminals who use digital assets in money laundering operations. In addition, he did not rule out that these platforms could be related to the Jalisco Nueva Generación drug cartel, as they are all based in this area:

The fundamental issue will be the analysis of cryptocurrencies and their connections with criminal groups. I am struck by the fact that many of the cryptocurrency platforms operate in several municipalities in the state of Jalisco. Under Mexican law, each of the 12 illegal entities will face a fine of up to $ 15,000.

To date, the FIU has identified at least three potential criminal cases involving digital assets. One was about Nigerian citizens in Mexico City who drained cryptocurrencies from Mexican victims and shipped them to their home country.

A member of the Colombian drug cartel has been laundering millions in cryptocurrencies

This is not the first time we hear about cryptocurrencies and drug cartels. Last year, Spanish police arrested a Dutch drug dealer of Colombian origins who laundered around six million euros in digital assets. The criminal was part of the Cali cartel and represented the syndicate in Europe.

Interestingly, when authorities caught the trader at his villa in Marbella, they also found many luxury items such as cars, expensive watches and 85,000 euros in cash. The police confiscated all his belongings. Among them there are also crypto cards as well as computers and mobile phones.