Mexican authorities have blown up 12 crypto exchanges involved in money laundering

Mexican authorities have blown up 12 native crypto exchanges allegedly involved in money laundering for the Jalisco drug cartel in the nation.

Mexican authorities have blown up 12 crypto exchanges involved in money laundering

Mexico’s Financial Intelligence Unit (UIF) accused 12 crypto exchanges of failing to satisfy their reporting necessities.

According to Santiago Nieto Castillo, the company’s head, the 12 exchanges whose names have not been disclosed are usually not registered with the company and function illegally, native newspaper El Economista reported on Wednesday.

“We’re creating cases that the attorney general can work on,” mentioned Nieto Castillo throughout a danger administration and monetary data seminar.

Nieto Castillo has raised suspicions that the businesses could also be involved in criminals who use digital belongings for money laundering actions.

He additionally indicated that the trade could also be associated to the Jalisco Nueva Generación drug cartel.

The UIF didn’t instantly reply to CoinDesk’s inquiries for the names of the crypto exchanges involved.

Nieto Castillo says combating money laundering by way of cryptocurrencies is a precedence for the UIF.

Under Mexican legislation, bureaux de change discovered responsible are fined up to $ 15,000.

More crypto-related instances recognized in Mexico

However, the Mexican authorities have presently recognized three suspected crimes associated to cryptocurrencies. One of them involved Nigerian nationals in Mexico City who had beforehand withdrawn cryptocurrencies from Mexican victims and despatched them again to their residence international locations.

“A fundamental topic would be the analysis of cryptocurrencies and their relationship to criminal groups. I was impressed by the fact that there are many crypto platforms installed in several cities in the state of Jalisco, ”mentioned Nieto Castillo, referring to an space dominated by a Jalisco drug syndicate known as Jalisco.

After the Fintech Act was handed in 2020, exchanges began reporting transactions for 645 account models (UMAS, in Spanish), which is the same as $ 57,804 million ($ 2,896).

To date, UIF has obtained practically 3,400 notifications from 23 exchanges reporting data to the Mexican Tax Administration (SAT), Nieto Castillo mentioned.

Upon receiving this data, the UIF has recognized not less than three potential instances of money laundering by way of the usage of cryptocurrencies, the official added.

In one of many instances, Nigerian nationals in Mexico City have been involved in cyber fraud that despatched cryptocurrencies again to their residence international locations, Nieto Castillo mentioned.

Mexico’s UIF operates beneath the supervision of the Finance Secretariat and is chargeable for analyzing data associated to unlawful moneymaking.

In June, Arturo Herrera, Mexico’s finance minister, mentioned cryptocurrencies are usually not authorized tender and are usually not thought of forex beneath the nation’s present regulatory framework.

Last month, Herrera mentioned these pointers wouldn’t be modified in a presentation to the Financial Action Task Force, a worldwide anti-money laundering group.

Whenever drug crime is talked about right this moment, it is rather troublesome to not relate it to cryptocurrency in a method or one other.

The sample has lengthy been round in cryptocurrencies and a wide range of different crimes, together with terrorist financing, human trafficking, and others.

Last yr the press reported extensively on the case of an unnamed Dutch drug vendor arrested in Spain. The suspect is a part of the notorious Cali gang and represents the group in Europe.

He was caught between a number of luxurious gadgets like a wrist watch, an unique automobile believed to be medication, and unlawful cryptocurrency transactions that have been a part of the reveals he confiscated, a bank card linked to a cryptocurrency account, a pc, and one Cellphone.

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