Share this article

Ethereum Wallet Tied to Sinaloa Cartel Sanctioned by U.S. Government

The wallet is tied to a money laundering operation that transfers proceeds from fentanyl sales to Sinaloa cartel leaders in Mexico, officials said.

Updated Sep 27, 2023, 3:50 p.m. Published Sep 26, 2023, 2:45 p.m.
OFAC sanctions Ethereum wallet (Pixabay)
OFAC sanctions Ethereum wallet (Pixabay)

The U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has sanctioned an Ethereum wallet tied to Jimenez Castro, a Mexican male with ties to the Sinaloa cartel.

Castro is one of 10 names listed on OFAC's sanctions list as a part of a counter narcotics operation, according to a published list on OFAC's website.

STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today. See all newsletters

The wallet in question was first active in January or this year and received around $740,000 in deposits to Binance in a two month period, data from Arkham shows.

A U.S. Treasury press release states that Jimenez Castro "operates money laundering organization that uses virtual currency and wire transfers, among other methods, to transfer proceeds from illicit fentanyl sales in the United States to Sinaloa Cartel leaders in Mexico."

OFAC sanctioned a group of cryptocurrency wallets tied to the North Korean government earlier this year.

More For You

Protocol Research: GoPlus Security

GP Basic Image

What to know:

  • As of October 2025, GoPlus has generated $4.7M in total revenue across its product lines. The GoPlus App is the primary revenue driver, contributing $2.5M (approx. 53%), followed by the SafeToken Protocol at $1.7M.
  • GoPlus Intelligence's Token Security API averaged 717 million monthly calls year-to-date in 2025 , with a peak of nearly 1 billion calls in February 2025. Total blockchain-level requests, including transaction simulations, averaged an additional 350 million per month.
  • Since its January 2025 launch , the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B , while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B.

More For You

DAWN raises $13M to expand decentralized broadband networks

Dawn (춘성 강/Pixabay, modified by CoinDesk)

The decentralized wireless protocol plans U.S. expansion and new international deployments as investors back a user-owned alternative to legacy internet providers.

What to know:

  • DAWN raised $13 million in a Series B led by Polychain Capital.
  • The protocol enables individuals and organizations to own and monetize wireless broadband infrastructure.
  • New funding will support U.S. growth and international rollouts.