The DEA completed this cryptocurrency seizure and other drug-related actions as part of Operation Take Back America, resulting in the forfeiture of thousands of pounds of fentanyl, cocaine, and methamphetamines. The Sinaloa Cartel has been designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the U.S. government.

DEA Confiscated $10 Million in Cryptocurrency From the Sinaloa Cartel

As criminals adapt and evolve to incorporate new financial tools, such as cryptocurrency, into their illicit activities, federal agencies have also adapted to combat these emerging methods. The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the main federal agency involved in the fight against drugs in the U.S., recently announced that it hit the Sinaloa Cartel with a cryptocurrency seizure of $10 million derived from their drug trafficking activities.

DEA Acting Administrator Robert Murphy highlighted the relevance of these activities as part of the Operation Take Back America, which has already seized millions of fentanyl pills and thousands of pounds of fentanyl powder, cocaine, and methamphetamines.

Referring directly to the action involving the Sinaloa cartel, Murphy declared that the seizure was completed in Miami in collaboration with FBI operatives who used new financial tracking technologies to find these cryptocurrency assets.

Murphy stressed:

Were hitting the cartels where it hurts most: their finances. This operation shows we can track their money routes even when they try to hide them in cryptocurrency.

The Sinaloa Cartel is one of the Mexican criminal groups designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S. government due to the large operations that the group plans and executes to fill the country with narcotics.

Attorney General Pam Bondi highlighted the relevance of these seizure activities, acknowledging that the federal agencies are doing their job in the war against drugs. Our DEA agents are doing historic work to keep our communities safe from deadly drugs like fentanyl and dismantle the cartels selling them, she concluded.

The Venezuelan group Tren De Aragua, which has also been sanctioned by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) for using crypto for money laundering, recently had an operation that laundered over $13 million dismantled by the Chilean government.

Read more: Chile Cracks Down on Tren de Araguas Crypto Money Laundering Scheme