Ice cream shops and pharmacy linked to ruthless Mexico cartel, U.S. Treasury Department says
CBSN
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.
The move comes as rival cartel factions have been in a deadly conflict with each other and authorities following the surprise arrest on U.S. soil of Sinaloa Cartel co-founder Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada in late July, which is believed to have unleashed an internal power struggle within the group.
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.
