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Understanding the Threat of Mexican Drug Cartels: Essential Insights for Financial Institutions and Corporates to Manage Associated Risks

March 4, 2025, 10AM ET 

Panelists 

 

I. Overview 

On March 4th, panelists covered a range of critical topics related to drug cartels, specifically the impact of designating a number of Drug Cartels as (Foreign Terrorist Organizations FTOs) and some of the ground truth facts that are driving the prioritization of this issue.

Some top-level facts include:

For an in-depth primer on these threats, see the DEA 2024 National Drug Threat Assessment here.

 

II. From a US strategy perspective, organizations should know:

For further insights, see Crowell’s full client alert here.

The panelists also discussed the nexus between drug cartels, Chinese money laundering, the PRC and precursor chemical suppliers in China. 

The panelists highlighted that known money laundering techniques such as trade based money laundering and the black market peso exchange are very much in use. In addition to these techniques, crypto currencies as well as Chinese Money Laundering Organizations (CMLOs) are also used and should be considered in due diligence and risk analysis. 

More information on CMLOs can be found here.

 

III. Reviewing known typologies and emergent risks: 

Common red flags include, but are not limited to:

For additional guidance on red flags and other typologies, see the following resources: 

 

IV. Anticipated next steps from the current Administration: 

Additional information on likely next steps can be found in reviewing the following resources:

 

V. Steps financial institutions and corporates can and should take to help manage drug cartel-related risk: 

 

V. Additional Background and Information Links

Note: To add to this or make suggestions, please email info@sigma360.com 

How can Sigma360 help me stay ahead? 

Using Sigma360's risk decisioning software platform, organizations can not only get ahead of risk, but leverage unstructured data - like the screening examples highlighted in this article.  Sigma360's drug cartel-centric screening capabilities, coupled with deep subject matter expertise helps organization's proactively manage risk and document a more forward leaning posture in response to current policy priorities. 


To see Sigma360 in action, book a demo
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