Crypto Money Trail Binds Sinaloa Cartel

The U. S. Treasury has moved against people linked to fentanyl smuggling who used crypto to hide their profits. Two separate groups tied to the Sinaloa Cartel were added to the sanctions list after a joint operation by Homeland Security and the DEA. The Treasury said it will keep targeting cartels that use cryptocurrency to move drug money and protect communities. The main target is Armando de Jesus Ojeda Aviles, who allegedly turned cash into digital coins that were then sent to the cartel.His partner, Jesus Alonso Aispuro Felix, was also sanctioned for moving drug proceeds through the blockchain. Six Ethereum addresses were listed as well. Five of them have been inactive for years, but one address last used in late April transferred almost $900 worth of USDT, a stablecoin tied to the U. S. dollar. The sanctions are backed by two executive orders that aim to stop illicit drug production and fight terrorism. The Treasury highlighted the Sinaloa Cartel as a foreign terrorist organization that supplies much of the fentanyl entering America, causing thousands of deaths each year.