The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), working along with the FBI, has actually taken over $10 million in cryptocurrency connected to the notorious Sinaloa cartel throughout operations in Miami, Florida.
The seizure came as part of a comprehensive across the country crackdown that has actually caused the confiscation of 44 million fentanyl tablets, 4,500 pounds of fentanyl powder, almost 65,000 pounds of methamphetamine, and more than 201,500 pounds of drug because January 2025, according to the United States Department of Justice.
” DEA is striking the cartels where it harms– with arrests, with seizures, and with ruthless pressure,” stated DEA Performing Administrator Robert Murphy. “We are taking apart these networks piece by piece– and we will not stop up until the last brick of their empire falls.”
The Sinaloa cartel stays among 6 Mexican drug trafficking companies identified as worldwide “terrorist” groups by the United States federal government. The group is mostly associated with the circulation of drug, heroin, methamphetamine, fentanyl, marijuana and MDMA (euphoria).
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DEA launches across the country raids
The DOJ highlighted a number of current effective raids throughout the United States amidst a nationwide crackdown on drugs. In Lexington County, South Carolina, representatives took 156 pounds of fentanyl and 44 pounds of methamphetamine along with a gun and jailed a trafficker.
In California’s Kern County, a methamphetamine conversion laboratory was taken apart, with representatives seizing over 240 pounds of crystal meth and 151 gallons of liquid meth.
Georgia authorities obstructed over 700 pounds of methamphetamine concealed in a truckload of cucumbers, and Texas police exposed 1,700 pounds of methamphetamine worth over $15 million concealed inside an automobile.
The raids accompany continuous legal fights versus cartel figures, consisting of Ovidio Guzman Lopez, kid of infamous drug kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, who just recently pleaded guilty to drug charges in Chicago.
” Our DEA representatives are doing historical work to keep our neighborhoods safe from lethal drugs like fentanyl and take apart the cartels offering them,” Attorney General Of The United States Pamela Bondi stated. “I wish to advise all Americans to work out severe care: a tablet can eliminate.”
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Crypto crosschain laundering leaps to $21.8 billion
According to UK blockchain analytics firm Elliptic, illegal and high-risk cryptocurrency streaming through crosschain swaps has actually risen to an approximated $21.8 billion in 2025, up from $7 billion in 2023. North Korean stars represent approximately 12% of these deals.
Elliptic kept in mind that crosschain swaps have actually ended up being main to laundering operations, as wrongdoers utilize numerous blockchains to obscure the origin and location of funds. While expensive and ineffective, these strategies have actually ended up being basic in massive laundering efforts.
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