In March 2025, OFAC issued an alert confirming that eight criminal organizations had been designated as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs) and Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGTs). Their U.S. assets are now blocked, and U.S. persons are broadly prohibited from transacting with them.
But who are these groups? What do they control? And how do their networks quietly move money, goods, and influence across the global financial system?
The FTO designations of eight cartel networks including Sinaloa, CJNG, and MS-13 represent a turning point in U.S. national security strategy. These are not just violent drug traffickers. They are transnational financial enterprises, deeply embedded in global supply chains, logistics corridors, crypto exchanges, and trade finance routes.
Let’s break them down cartel by cartel and spotlight the financial typologies that compliance teams must now map, monitor, and mitigate.
1. Sinaloa Cartel
Primary Areas: Sinaloa, Baja California, Sonora, Durango
Key Actors: El Mayo Zambada, Los Chapitos
What They Control:
The Sinaloa Cartel has evolved from a kingpin empire into a decentralized criminal conglomerate. They are entrenched in fentanyl and cocaine trafficking, crypto-based laundering through Chinese intermediaries, trade-based money laundering via U.S. goods (like clothing and mango purée), and real estate front operations in Mexico and the U.S.
Typologies:
- Fentanyl precursor purchases via Chinese brokers
- Bulk cash smuggling
- Crypto laundering using USDT and Bitcoin
- Shell companies with fraudulent invoices
- Real estate laundering near U.S. and Mexico border zones
2. Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG)
Primary Areas: Jalisco, Veracruz, and national reach
Key Actors: El Mencho
What They Control:
CJNG has used extreme violence to seize territory, but their power also lies in logistics. They control key Pacific ports, own illegal mining operations, and move meth and fentanyl across North America and Asia.
Typologies:
- Port-based logistics for precursor chemicals
- Skimming off illegal mining proceeds
- Laundering funds via shell import/export companies
- Weaponized drone attacks on law enforcement
- Use of payment platforms to obscure trail
3. Gulf Cartel (CDG)
Primary Areas: Tamaulipas, Veracruz
What They Control:
One of Mexico’s oldest criminal groups, CDG now operates as a loose confederation of factions. Still dangerous, they specialize in flexibility including drug smuggling, extortion, kidnapping, fuel theft, and shell company laundering.
Typologies:
- Human smuggling and fuel theft
- Use of regional logistics firms to launder revenue
- Nested payments through front businesses
- Bribes to officials using brokerage intermediaries
4. Cartel del Noreste (CDN)
Primary Areas: Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Coahuila
What They Control:
CDN maintains a tight grip on border routes near Laredo, funneling migrants, drugs, and illicit funds across one of the busiest U.S. Mexico crossings. They are militarized and closely tied to human smuggling rings.
Typologies:
- Kidnapping for profit and extortion
- Remittance corridor exploitation
- Trade-based falsification of customs paperwork
- Front businesses in northern Mexico and Texas
5. La Nueva Familia Michoacana (LNFM)
Primary Areas: Michoacán, Guerrero, Morelos
What They Control:
Known for brutality and deep political entrenchment, LNFM profits from meth and fentanyl production, extortion of local economies, and targeted violence against government officials.
Typologies:
- Money laundering via regional commercial fronts
- Local political corruption and cash payments to officials
- Cross-border meth distribution and drug microfinance networks
6. Cartel Unidos (CU)
Primary Areas: Michoacán
What They Control:
An alliance of smaller groups formed to drive out Los Zetas, CU is deeply embedded in local communities creating both violence and economic dependency.
Typologies:
- Use of factureros (fraudulent billers)
- Front agriculture and mining firms
- Real estate laundering in conflict zones
7. Tren de Aragua
Primary Areas: Venezuela, Colombia, Panama, Chile
What They Control:
A Venezuelan export of organized crime, Tren de Aragua is expanding across Latin America. Known for human trafficking, extortion, and bribery, they are also forging ties to Mexican cartels and laundering proceeds through migrant corridors.
Typologies:
- Human smuggling via South to North routes
- Informal transfer systems and remittance manipulation
- Coordinated financial activity in border towns and detention zones
8. MS-13 (Mara Salvatrucha)
Primary Areas: El Salvador, Honduras, U.S. (notably California, New York)
What They Control:
A transnational gang turned enterprise, MS-13 mixes violent street-level control with increasingly complex financial activity. Their drug revenues now feed into businesses, remittance abuse, and real estate purchases in the U.S.
Typologies:
- Crypto laundering through third-party exchanges
- Money mule networks
- Purchase of U.S. residential property for asset storage
- Integration into migrant-related service businesses
Why it Matters
The FTO designation means each of these groups is now officially recognized as a national security threat. Their U.S.-based assets are blocked. Providing material support even indirectly can result in criminal liability.
OFAC made it clear. These organizations have blocked property in the United States. That includes front companies, real estate, shell vendors, and even trade routes tied to fentanyl precursors.
Banks and corporates cannot afford a wait-and-see approach. Screening systems must evolve. Risk models must reflect behavioral and network indicators, not just sanctioned names.
→ Dive deeper: From Kingpins to Terrorists: The Evolution of U.S. Cartel Policy
How can Sigma360 help me stay ahead?
The regulatory, reputational, and operational risks posed by Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs) and cartel-linked entities have outpaced the capabilities of traditional screening solutions. Sigma360 was purpose-built for this challenge. Unlike legacy tools that rely on outdated watchlists or generic adverse media checks, our platform delivers a holistic, persistent view of FTO/DTO exposure at scale.
Our proprietary threat intelligence combines:
- Corporate Registry & Formation Data to uncover shell companies, hidden ownership, and front entities.
- Enhanced Watchlist and Network Data that goes beyond official designations to map affiliated networks, enablers, and aliases.
- Adverse Media & Legal Record Analysis to reveal risks invisible to most compliance platforms.
- Expert-Developed Cartel Behavioral Models based on DEA tradecraft, investigative reporting, and years of field-tested indicators.
This intelligence is supported by an AI-driven engine that identifies and prioritizes risk based on behavioral patterns, not just entity names. Our platform is easy to deploy, with flexible delivery options that include API integration, batch screening, and advisory overlays.
