The US Treasury slapped sanctions Wednesday on a cryptocurrency money-laundering network linked to the Sinaloa Cartel, freezing six Ethereum addresses at the center of the operation. Authorities say the group, led by Armando de Jesus Ojeda Aviles, took bulk cash from drug sales — including fentanyl — and turned it into crypto, moving proceeds across borders.
Who's behind the network
The Treasury identified three key figures. Ojeda Aviles runs the laundering operation, converting physical drug cash into cryptocurrency. Jesus Alonso Aispuro Felix acts as the network's chief money broker, handling large cryptocurrency transfers of drug proceeds. A third man, Rodrigo Alarcon Palomares, was indicted in April 2024 by a federal grand jury in Colorado for laundering drug money through crypto. All three are tied to the Sinaloa Cartel, which the US has designated as a significant foreign narcotics trafficker since April 2009.
The six sanctioned addresses
The Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control blacklisted six Ethereum addresses, five of which are connected directly to Ojeda Aviles. Anyone in the US is now barred from transacting with those wallets. The move effectively cuts the addresses off from US-based exchanges and services, though on-chain activity outside US jurisdiction isn't directly blocked.
The sanctions come as US agencies ramp up pressure on cartels using crypto to launder fentanyl proceeds. Fentanyl trafficking has become a top national security priority, and the Treasury has increasingly targeted digital wallets alongside traditional bank accounts. The action against Ojeda Aviles' network signals investigators are following the crypto trail all the way back to the cartel's drug cash collectors.
The indictment of Palomares in Colorado and the new sanctions suggest parallel criminal and financial cases are moving forward. What remains unclear is how much of the cartel's overall laundering flow went through these Ethereum addresses, and whether the Treasury will name additional wallets tied to Felix or other brokers.
