The Drug Encompressation Administration (DEA), working alongside the FBI, seized more than $ 10 million in cryptocurrency linked to the infamous Sinaloa cartel during operations in Miami, Florida.
The seizure was part of an extended national repression which led to the confiscation of 44 million fentanyl pills, 4,500 pounds of fentanyl powder, nearly 65,000 pounds of methamphetamine and more than 201500 pounds of cocaine since January 2025, according to the United States Ministry of Justice.
“DEA strikes the cartels where it hurts – with arrests, with convulsions and with incessant pressure,” said the acting administrator of the DEA, Robert Murphy. “We are creating these pieces of rooms by piece – and we will not stop before the last brick of their empire falls.”
The Sinaloa cartel remains one of the six Mexican drug trafficking organizations qualified as global “terrorist” groups by the United States government. The group is mainly involved in the distribution of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, fentanyl, cannabis and MDMA (Ecstasy).
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DEA launches raids on a national scale
The DoJ has highlighted several recent raids through the United States in the midst of national repression against medication. In the county of Lexington, in South Carolina, agents seized 156 pounds of fentanyl and 44 pounds of methamphetamine alongside a firearm and stopped a trafficker.
In Kern County in California, a methamphetamine conversion laboratory has been dismantled, with agents confiscating more than 240 pounds of crystal methamphetamine and 151 gallons of liquid methamphetamine.
Georgia managers intercepted more than 700 pounds of methamphetamine hidden in a cucumber truck, and the Texas police discovered 1,700 pounds of methamphetamine worth more than $ 15 million hidden inside a vehicle.
The raids coincide with the current legal battles against cartel personalities, notably Ovidio Guzman Lopez, son of the notorious drug nuts Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, who recently pleaded guilty to drug charges in Chicago.
“Our DEA agents are doing a historic job to protect our communities from deadly drugs such as fentanyl and dismantle cartels selling them,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “I want to remind all Americans to exercise extreme caution: a pill can kill.”
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Crypto crosschain whitening jumps at $ 21.8 billion
According to the British Elliptical Blockchain Analysis Society, illicit and high-risk cryptocurrencies that flow through cross-exchanges increased to around $ 21.8 billion in 2025, compared to $ 7 billion in 2023. North Korean players represent around 12% of these transactions.
Elliptic noted that cross exchanges have become central for money laundering operations, because criminals exploit several blockchains to obscure the origin and destination of funds. Although expensive and ineffective, these tactics have become standard in large -scale whitening efforts.
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