There has been a lot of virtual ink spilled on the damage done to Iran's economy by the United States Treasury Department under the best Treasury Secretary since Alexander Hamilton, namely Scott Bessent. But the Secretary and his department haven't been focused solely on Iran. On Tuesday, the Treasury Department announced sanctions slammed down on the Cartel del Noreste, a Mexican criminal organization and U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization.
Secretary Bessent announced the move on the nation's bulletin board, X.
Today’s action exposes Cartel del Noreste’s exploitation of the horse racing sector to launder illicit proceeds and finance cartel operations. This action marks Treasury’s most significant effort to date to disrupt Cartel del Noreste’s financial infrastructure. Treasury, in close coordination with our law enforcement partners, remains committed to protecting the U.S. financial system from misuse by violent cartels.
— Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent (@SecScottBessent) October 13, 2026
He writes:
Today’s action exposes Cartel del Noreste’s exploitation of the horse racing sector to launder illicit proceeds and finance cartel operations. This action marks Treasury’s most significant effort to date to disrupt Cartel del Noreste’s financial infrastructure. Treasury, in close coordination with our law enforcement partners, remains committed to protecting the U.S. financial system from misuse by violent cartels.
There's also a press release from the Treasury Department, with more details.
Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned four individuals and 11 entities connected to the U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) Cartel del Noreste (CDN). Those designated include individuals and businesses involved in quarter horse racing, construction, trucking, and the oil and gas sector, highlighting the cartel’s diverse commercial footprint. CDN’s evolution from its predecessor, Los Zetas—responsible for some of the deadliest mass‑casualty attacks in Mexican history—underscores the severity of CDN’s continued threat to the United States and the region.
Now the United States Treasury has put a serious kink in CDN's money pipeline.
We shouldn't harbor any illusions about this move, though. Don't get me wrong, it's a solid move by Treasury, necessary, well thought-out and a hard hit on this notorious cartel. But it's a won battle, not a won war. The cartels will retrench and set up new pipelines, new operations, new money laundering schemes. And, as long as the current administration stays in place, the United States will be seeking out and slamming a lid on those new schemes, too. It's sort of a criminal/financial arms race, and it won't end, not as long as there is money to be made by the cartels in their various criminal enterprises.
Crime has been with us for as long as there have been people. Here, from the press release, is who we are dealing with.
Based in Mexico directly across from one of the busiest American border crossings, CDN is a violent terrorist cartel founded by the notorious brothers Miguel Angel “Z-40” Trevino Morales and Oscar Omar “Z-42” Trevino Morales. CDN has been involved in the trafficking of narcotics and other illicit drugs, including fentanyl, crystal methamphetamine, heroin, marijuana, and cocaine. CDN, formerly known as Los Zetas, has engaged in horrific violence over the years. This year marks the fifteenth anniversary of the August 25, 2011 deadly Los Zetas arson attack on a casino in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico. This arson attack killed 52 people and injured dozens more, with a majority of those killed being women. This firebombing became one of the deadliest cartel attacks against civilians in Mexican history.
This move by Treasury has hurt them. We should go on hurting them, and where possible, ending them. That's good policy. That's what we voted for.
Editor’s Note: The American people overwhelmingly support President Trump’s law and order agenda.
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