DEA Seizes $10 Million in Cryptocurrency From Sinaloa Cartel

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has seized $10 million in cryptocurrency from the Mexico-based Sinaloa Cartel in recent weeks, and warned about the manufacture of methamphetamine disguised as pharmaceutical drugs aimed at young people in the United States.

On July 15, Attorney General Pamela Bondi announced a series of what she called “successful operations” that are part of the DEA’s Operation Recover America, carried out in recent weeks, to eradicate illegal drugs from the United States and protect the population, the Department of Justice (DOJ) reported in a statement. Bondi was accompanied by DEA acting administrator Robert Murphy.

The DOJ reported that “the DEA, in coordination with its FBI colleagues, seized more than $10 million in cryptocurrency directly linked to the Sinaloa cartel.”

The Sinaloa Cartel was officially designated a global terrorist organization by the State Department on Feb. 20.

The DOJ also reported that since the start of President Donald Trump’s second term, the DEA has seized approximately 44 million fentanyl pills, 4,500 pounds of powdered fentanyl, nearly 65,000 pounds of methamphetamine, and more than 201,500 pounds of cocaine. The agency has also made more than 2,105 arrests related to fentanyl.

“The DEA is hitting the cartels where it hurts most: with arrests, seizures, and relentless pressure. From meth labs in California to fentanyl pills disguised as prescription drugs seized at our border, these operations save American lives every day,” Murphy said in the statement.

The acting DEA administrator also said the agency has been observing a troubling trend involving methamphetamine.

“The cartels are now producing methamphetamine pills. We started seeing this in 2024 in huge quantities. This year, we have already seized more methamphetamine pills than in all of 2024,” Murphy said at the July 15 press conference.

“These pills are manufactured to look like popular drugs that young people of both sexes want to use in college. This is a deliberate effort on the part of the cartels.

“Our young people are not looking for methamphetamine pills. They don’t want to use them. Unfortunately, they are being deceived into falling into a life of potential addiction.”

On July 6, Customs and Border Protection Field Operations Office at the Pharr International Bridge in Texas found methamphetamine valued at nearly $24 million inside a tractor-trailer carrying papayas from Mexico.

In late June, CBP agents in the El Paso area seized 127.3 pounds of methamphetamine hidden in two cars in two separate incidents, according to a June 30 statement. One of the cars was driven by a 49-year-old U.S. citizen, and the other by a 30-year-old Mexican citizen.