US Treasury sanctions a chain of ice cream shops and a pharmacy tied to the Sinaloa Cartel
The U.S. Treasury Department has sanctioned a Mexican ice cream shop chain and a local pharmacy used as investments by drug traffickers
MEXICO CITY (AP) — The U.S. Treasury Department on Tuesday said it sanctioned two Mexican businesses — an ice cream chain and a local pharmacy — for allegedly using proceeds of fentanyl trafficking to finance their operations tied to the Sinaloa cartel.
Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control — the U.S. agency that combats illicit funds and money laundering — said people previously cited for money laundering had set up a chain of ice cream and popsicle shops in the state of Sinaloa.
The Sinaloa cartel often uses their earnings from international drug trafficking to establish businesses, pouring cash into everything from fraudulent timeshare operations to restaurants to launder money.
OFAC said that another individual set up a pharmacy and convenience store using drug proceeds in the northern state of Sonora.
