Sinaloa Cartel Ties to Cambodian Scam Centers Uncovered Amid Cryptocurrency Money Laundering Operation

Cambodian and U.S. anti-drug agencies have uncovered a network that allegedly uses cryptocurrency to launder money for Mexico's notorious Sinaloa Cartel, officials from both countries said Friday.

The Cambodian National Authority for Combating Drugs, led by Secretary-General Meas Vyrith, is further investigating money laundering operations by the Sinaloa Cartel, which has been designated a 'foreign terrorist organization' by the Trump administration.

Cambodian anti-drug police working with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration had made several arrests and seized assets, drug laboratories, and storage facilities at four locations in Phnom Penh and Kandal province from August 1 to 5.

They confiscated over 200 kilograms of illegal drugs and more than one metric ton of precursor chemicals used to produce them. U.S. officials had previously seized about $7 million in cryptocurrency linked to the cartel in an earlier law enforcement operation in New Jersey, where suspects are now being sought in Cambodia.