Mexican government freezes 18 bank accounts linked to the Sinaloa Cartel and Rafael Caro Quintero

The 14 bank accounts tied to the Sinaloa Cartel were identified with the help of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). The 5 business accounts laundered approximately MXN$2 billion (US$82.2 million). These businesses offered services in consulting, publicity, construction, jewelry and and movie entertainment in Sinaloa and Jalisco.

Investigators were able to identify the first bank account after a Sinaloa Cartel operator received a sum of money from his wife through one of the five business accounts based in Jalisco. That business account issued 58 checks totaling MXN$12.7 million (US$521K). One of the company’s shareholders is a legal representative of over a dozen other businesses that have reported money withdrawals totaling MXN$497 million (US$20.4 million).

Two more unnamed Sinaloa Cartel members used a company to purchase four properties in Culiacan, Sinaloa, for MXN$17.3 million (US$712K). They paid for them using corporate credit cards and appeared as the card’s beneficiaries. However, they did not include this information in their personal tax report, which alerted authorities.

The DEA told Mexican officials that these two money launderers were also linked to a jewelry company that transferred funds to another one based in the U.S. state of Delaware. The transfers totaled MXN$10.4 million (US$428K).

The UIF also identified another Sinaloa Cartel member who owned multiple movie theaters in Culiacan. It was reported that his companies reported over MXN$884 million (US$36.4 million) in earnings and that they received MXN$456 million (US$18.7 million) in cash deposits. Through family members, this person created a construction firm that had cash withdrawals over MXN$100 million (US$4 million).

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