Overview
- Mexico’s finance and security agencies suspended operations at 13 physical and online casinos across eight states, froze related bank accounts and websites, and filed criminal and fiscal complaints.
- Authorities described a six-step laundering method that used stolen identities, prepaid codes and simulated bets to record fictitious winnings, send funds abroad and bring the money back as ostensibly legal income.
- FinCEN named 10 casinos in Sonora, Sinaloa, Baja California and Tabasco as primary money‑laundering concerns and proposed a special measure to restrict their access to U.S. financial institutions.
- OFAC sanctioned members of the Hysa family and more than 20 affiliated businesses, including casinos and restaurants, for allegedly laundering on behalf of the Sinaloa Cartel, blocking their U.S. assets.
- Officials signaled tighter oversight for digital gambling and the rollout of AI‑based early‑detection tools, while reporting linked two suspended casinos to Grupo Salinas, which rejects the allegations as persecution.