-
The
U.S.
Treasury
Department’s
Financial
Crimes
Enforcement
Network
issued
an
updated
advisory
to
U.S.
financial
firms
cautioning
them
on
what
to
watch
out
for
in
illegal
fentanyl
trafficking,
including
the
use
of
certain
cryptocurrencies. -
While
FinCEN
did
cite
four
tokens
—
bitcoin,
ether,
monero
and
tether
—
the
news
of
crypto’s
involvement
in
this
illicit
market
has
been
well
covered
by
previous
criminal
and
sanctions
actions
from
U.S.
authorities.
Criminal
organizations
in
Mexico
have
been
using
several
popular
digital
assets
to
buy
the
raw
materials
needed
to
make
the
drug
fentanyl,
according
to
the
U.S.
Treasury
Department’s
Financial
Crimes
Enforcement
Network
(FinCEN),
which
cited
the
use
of
bitcoin
and
other
tokens
in
a
Thursday
advisory.
The
cartels
“are
increasingly
purchasing
fentanyl
precursor
chemicals
and
manufacturing
equipment”
from
China-based
suppliers
and
paying
in
tokens
including
bitcoin
(BTC),
ether
(ETH),
monero
(XMR),
and
tether
(USDT)
“among
others,”
according
to
an
updated
FinCEN
advisory
to
alert
U.S.
financial
firms
about
the
network
of
criminal
organizations
producing
the
dangerous
narcotic.
The
payments
often
end
up
in
the
Chinese
suppliers’
hosted
wallets
at
crypto
firms,
sometimes
through
a
secondary
money
transmitter,
according
to
the
notice.
The
new
warnings,
updating
a
FinCEN
advisory
from
2019,
reflect
problems
that
had
already
emerged
in
sanctions
and
criminal
cases
brought
by
U.S.
authorities.
In
October,
the
U.S.
Department
of
Justice
charged
eight
China-tied
companies
with
illegal
drug
production,
distribution
and
sales
of
precursor
chemicals.
U.S.
overdoses
involving
fentanyl
have
become
the
leading
killer
for
those
aged
18-45.
The
chemicals
used
to
manufacture
the
dangerous
drug
often
come
from
China
and
wind
their
way
across
multiple
borders
on
their
path
to
U.S.
users
of
the
synthetic
opioid,
which
the
Drug
Enforcement
Administration
(DEA)
says
is
100
times
more
potent
than
morphine.