The U.S. Treasury Department is putting new sanctions on three allegedly high-ranking members of a Mexican drug cartel, as well as on a rapper accused of laundering money.
Rapper Ricardo Hernandez Medrano, or El Makabelico, is accused of giving 50% of his royalties from streaming platforms to the Cartel del Noreste.
The drug cartel primarily operates in northeastern Mexico. It is one of the Mexican drug cartels the Trump administration earlier this year designated as a foreign terrorist organization.
Many of El Makabelico’s songs have millions of streams on Spotify. As of Thursday morning, the rapper’s official YouTube page was unavailable.
The cartel leaders facing new U.S. sanctions include the group’s alleged second in command, who the Treasury Department says is responsible for ordering executions on behalf of the cartel.
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The dip in the money immigrants send back to the country coincides with Trump administration immigration authority raids in the United States. -
Mexican Security Minister Omar García Harfuch said on social media Mexico has sent a total of 92 “high-impact criminals to the United States under the current Trump administration. -
Alejandro Rosales Castillo has been wanted for murder in North Carolina for nearly a decade. -
In a post, the State Department called Mexico’s progress on border security “unacceptable.” Meanwhile, Mexico’s president is calling on the United States to do more to stop the flow of firearms into her country. -
Arizona is considering pumping water from a desalination plant on the Gulf of California to boost its water supply, but would need buy-in from Mexico.
