US Treasury Sanctions CDN Casinos and Money Laundering Network — Fentanyl Stash Houses in Nuevo Laredo and Tampico Designated

The US Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated six targets linked to Cartel del Noreste (CDN) on April 14 — including two Tamaulipas casinos used as fentanyl and cocaine stash houses, two front companies, and two individuals providing legal and information services to CDN leadership. Casino Centenario in Nuevo Laredo operated as a drug stash house for fentanyl pills and cocaine as well as a money laundering hub; Diamante Casino and CAMSA in Tampico ran an online betting operation as a CDN financial front. Juan Pablo Penilla Rodriguez — a defense attorney acting as intermediary for CDN leadership — and Jesus Reymundo Ramos Vazquez — a CDN operative posing as a 'human rights activist' to run disinformation campaigns — were among those sanctioned. CDN was previously designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization under Trump's February 2025 executive order. The coordinated Treasury-State action targets the financial infrastructure sustaining CDN's cross-border fentanyl trafficking, human smuggling, and extortion operations in Tamaulipas.