The Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco Nueva Generación Cartel (CJNG) are the criminal groups that, according to the United States authorities, are responsible for the trafficking of fentanyl. To do so, they have resorted to the use of cryptocurrencies and the Chinese market to obtain the precursors for the manufacture of the opioid.
A report by the Modern War Institute dated January 2025 mentions the criminal organization called El Sindicato (The Syndicate), which would be led by Du Changgen, according to the document The fentanyl crisis in the domestic market in a strategic context, prepared by Nicholas Dockery.
This structure is responsible for supplying drug traffickers in the United States, as well as sellers on the Dark Web, money launderers and criminal organizations in Mexico.
The CJNG and the Cartel
The report highlights the use of bitcoin, a key cryptocurrency within the fentanyl supply chain. In addition, two Chinese companies accept this type of assets for the commercialization of substances.
“Bitcoin played an important role in facilitating these illicit transactions. Both Wuhan Shuokang Biological Technology and Suzhou Xiaoli Pharmatech accepted Bitcoin for the sale of fentanyl precursors,” it reads.
In addition, the report highlights that there is a “financial opacity” in China that usually hides the profits generated by drug sales operations, but they estimate that Mexican criminal groups get between 6 and 21 billion dollars a year.
Part of the relevance of cryptocurrencies is related to money laundering activities. Even the data shared by Dockery indicates that in Mexico criminal groups launder 25 billion dollars a year.
The amounts of money mentioned, the report continues, suggest that Chinese actors involved in drug trafficking or money laundering would obtain significant sums of money from Chinese entities.
It is worth noting that the companies mentioned in the report were sanctioned by the Treasury Department in April 2023. In that year, a man nicknamed Kastor was identified as a person linked to Iván Archivaldo (alleged leader of Los Chapitos) and who used cryptocurrencies to launder drug money.
While last November, nine people were accused of laundering money for Mexican cartels in the US through the use of cryptocurrencies. The accusations are the result of a network of cryptocurrency launderers.
Source: infobae
