The illicit activities and money laundering of Mexico-based drug cartels and other criminal actors along the southwest border of the US have been targeted in a fresh initiative.
The US Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has issued a Geographic Targeting Order (GTO) requiring all money services businesses (MSBs) located in 30 ZIP codes across California and Texas near the southwest border to file Currency Transaction Reports (CTRs) with FinCEN at a $200 threshold, in connection with cash transactions.
CTRs are financial documents that help prevent money laundering by recording transactions over $10,000, and they are filed with FinCEN by financial institutions.
Trump admin moves to date
“Today’s issuance of this GTO underscores our deep concern with the significant risk to the US financial system of the cartels, drug traffickers, and other criminal actors along the southwest border,” said Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent. “As part of a whole-of-government approach to combatting the threat, Treasury remains focused on leveraging all our available tools and authorities to better identify and counter these criminal activities.”
The Trump administration has said that combatting drug cartels and stopping the flow of deadly drugs into the country is one of its highest priorities.
In January, on Inauguration Day, President Trump issued an Executive Order creating a process by which certain cartels and other organizations would be designated as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs) and/or Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGTs).
And in February, the Treasury and State Departments designated eight organizations, including six major Mexico-based drug cartels, as FTOs and SDGTs so the agencies could take further steps to deny individuals and entities associated with these groups access to the US financial system.
The terms of the GTO are effective beginning 30 days after the date on which the order is published in the Federal Register. The terms are effective for 179 days thereafter.
Author’s note
Despite this initiative from FinCEN, the Trump administration continues gutting the federal workforce, even some top officials in critical roles. President Trump’s Justice Department fired Adam Cohen, head of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force, on March 8. Cohen joins other career Justice Department officials, who traditionally hold their positions across different administrations, in being either removed or sidelined.
That task force, under Cohen’s leadership, was responsible for operations targeting drug cartels and organized crime across the country, and some experts are concerned that Cohen’s sudden firing could disrupt these investigations, potentially leaving criminal organizations with less oversight.
