MEXICO CITY - The U.S. Treasury Department on Oct. 13 designated four individuals and 11 entities it says supported the Cartel del Noreste (CDN) by moving and laundering funds through legitimate-looking business operations. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent described the measure as the agency's largest action to date against CDN's financial machinery and specifically singled out the cartel's persistent exploitation of horse-racing as a conduit for illicit proceeds.
The sanctions list includes Pablo Cesar Guajardo Alvarez, also known by the alias "Takia," who is identified as the accused CDN plaza boss in Nuevo Laredo and a former leader of the cartel's sicarios. Nuevo Laredo businessman Gamaliel Garza Garcia and his son were also designated. Treasury officials said those individuals, along with nine companies, operated in ways that aided CDN's financing activities.
The entities named span several commercial sectors. Treasury's action targets a quarter-horse racing stable, construction companies, and businesses involved in fuel and gas distribution, which the department said operated in support of the cartel. Club La Molienda - a facility described as a horse racetrack, restaurant and bar in Mexico's Tamaulipas state - was identified as controlled by CDN and characterized as a focal point for the group's horse-racing activities.
In addition to horse-racing and construction, the sanctions included a Nuevo Laredo-based trucking business, Tamex. Authorities linked the firm to two seized cocaine shipments totaling 52 kg that were hidden in trailer brake drums associated with the company.
Treasury officials set out specific financial figures connected to the alleged schemes. They stated that cartel-linked front companies spent $16 million on U.S. quarter-horse racing operations and laundered more than $22 million between 2008 and 2012, a period that led to the seizure of 455 horses. The department framed those transactions as part of a broader effort to convert illicit proceeds into assets and cash flows through apparently legitimate enterprises.
U.S. officials have also raised concerns about cartel-linked horse smuggling across the U.S.-Mexico border, noting that trafficked horses, often destined for U.S. racing, continue to move through illegal crossing routes that are also used for drugs and migrants.
The designation comes against the backdrop of legal action against CDN's leadership. Treasury noted that CDN was founded by brothers Miguel Angel and Oscar Omar Trevino Morales, who were transferred to the U.S. in 2025 to face charges that include drug trafficking, racketeering and money laundering. The department described the group as a successor to Los Zetas.
By naming individuals, operating businesses and a racetrack, the Treasury aimed to disrupt revenue streams across several economic sectors - notably horseracing, construction, trucking and energy - that, according to the department, functioned as support for CDN's criminal activities.