The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has imposed financial sanctions on four individuals and 11 Mexican companies linked to the Cartel del Noreste (CDN). They are accused of running a money laundering scheme involving Quarter Horse racing, the construction industry, and the energy sector in the states of Tamaulipas and Nuevo León.
According to the official U.S. report, the Cartel del Noreste—a criminal organization that emerged following the fragmentation of the Los Zetas group—adopted the same method for laundering illicit funds historically used by its founders, Miguel Ángel Treviño Morales (alias “Z-40”) and Óscar Omar Treviño Morales (alias “Z-42”).
Between 2008 and 2012, Los Zetas’ leadership funneled over $16 million in drug trafficking proceeds into the purchase, breeding, training, and racing of horses at tracks in Oklahoma, California, New Mexico, and Texas. They successfully laundered more than $22 million through the financial system before federal authorities seized 455 horses at an Oklahoma ranch.
Recent investigations indicate that this practice remains active under the CDN’s operational control along the northern border.
The Treasury Department identified the Club La Molienda equestrian center—a complex featuring a racetrack, restaurant, and bar located on the outskirts of Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas—as the primary track controlled by the criminal group. The facility generates revenue for the organization through mandatory entry fees charged to riders and spectators, in addition to maintaining betting partnerships operated in coordination with Casino Centenario—an establishment that was seized and shut down in April 2026.
Among the figures identified by the U.S. government is businessman Gamaliel Garza García, a business associate of the CDN and owner of the Cuadra San Dibanh stable in Anáhuac, Nuevo León; the stable breeds Quarter Horses that compete at La Molienda and various other venues across Mexico and the United States.
Furthermore, OFAC revealed that Garza García’s financial network extends to the irregular awarding of public works contracts. Through the firms Construcciones y Edificaciones Garza Elías, S.A. de C.V. (CEGESA) and Concretos y Productos Asfálticos del Norte, S.A. de C.V. (COPASA), the businessman secured a monopoly—authorized by the criminal organization—to carry out infrastructure projects in Nuevo Laredo.
According to the Department of the Treasury’s file, CEGESA was used to divert funds and inject illicit capital into the political campaigns of cartel-backed candidates, with the aim of coercing local governments, steering budget allocations, and subcontracting members of the criminal organization.
The same administrative action also designated Gamaliel Garza Elías; Pablo César Guajardo Álvarez (alias “El Takia”), identified as the CDN’s *plaza* boss in Nuevo Laredo; the trucking company Tamex Leasing; and its dispatcher, Francisco Javier Inzunza Partida—the latter being linked to the management of narcotics shipments into U.S. territory. Concurrently, the Financial Intelligence Unit (UIF) of Mexico’s Secretariat of Finance and Public Credit (SHCP) proceeded to block the bank accounts of the individuals and legal entities included on the OFAC list, in order to safeguard the integrity of the national financial system.
