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The U.S. Treasury Department on Tuesday said it sanctioned two Mexican businesses \u2014 an ice cream chain and a local pharmacy \u2014 for allegedly using proceeds of fentanyl trafficking<\/a><\/span> to finance their operations tied to the Sinaloa cartel.<\/p>\n Treasury\u2019s Office of Foreign Assets Control \u2014 the U.S. agency that combats illicit funds and money laundering \u2014 said people previously cited for money laundering had set up a chain of ice cream and popsicle shops in the state of Sinaloa.<\/p>\n The Sinaloa cartel<\/a><\/span> often uses their earnings from international drug trafficking to establish businesses, pouring cash into everything from fraudulent timeshare operations<\/a><\/span> to restaurants to launder money.<\/p>\n OFAC said that another individual set up a pharmacy and convenience store using drug proceeds in the northern state of Sonora.<\/p>\n \u201cPresident Biden and Vice President Harris are committed to using every tool at our disposal to combat the cartels that are poisoning our communities with fentanyl and other deadly drugs,\u201d said Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo in a statement.<\/p>\n The sanctions come days after the U.S. rejected accusations<\/a><\/span> by Mexico\u2019s President that the U.S. was partly responsible for a surge in cartel warfare<\/a><\/span> that left at least 30 people dead in Sinaloa.<\/p>\n The cartel is responsible for a significant portion of fentanyl trafficking into the U.S. They precursor chemicals from China and India to make the synthetic opioid and smuggle it into the United States, where it causes about 70,000 overdose deaths annually<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n Jes\u00fas Norberto Larra\u00f1aga Herrera, known as \u201cEl 30\u201d, and Karla Gabriela Liz\u00e1rraga S\u00e1nchez, established \u201cNieves y Paletas,\u201d an ice cream chain with several storefront locations around the capital using drug proceeds, according to the U.S. Treasury Department.<\/p>\n OFAC said a retail pharmacy and convenience store in Sonora were tied to drug trafficker Jos\u00e9 Arnoldo Morgan Huerta, nicknamed \u201cChachio.\u201d His brother, Juan Carlos Morgan Huerta, known as \u201cCacayo,\u201d is a Sinaloa cartel \u201cplaza boss\u201d and oversees drug trafficking in the border city of Nogales.<\/p>\n \u201cToday\u2019s action is part of a whole-of-government effort to counter the global threat posed by the trafficking of illicit drugs into the United States that is causing the deaths of tens of thousands of Americans annually, as well as countless more non-fatal overdoses,\u201d the U.S. Treasury Department said in the statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n