The U.S. Treasury Department this week sanctioned a number of casinos, restaurants, and their owners in Mexico, accusing them of allegedly laundering money for the Sinaloa Cartel. In total, they claim these gambling establishments helped launder two million dollars between 2017 and 2024. This has led the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network to issue an alert on 10 casinos, while the Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned 20 companies and 7 individuals. Most of these belong to the Hysa family, a group of Albanian businessmen who “used their influence or control over their investments in Mexico to launder the proceeds of narcotics trafficking,” and who had already been identified years ago for their ties to criminal groups.
According to U.S. statements, the “Hysa Organized Crime Group” includes Luftar Hysa, Arben Hysa, Ramiz Hysa, Fatos Hysa, Fabjon Hysa, and Eselda Baku-Hysa and “is believed to have operated with the consent of the Sinaloa Cartel,” which maintains control over much of the territory where the group conducted its activities. The 10 casinos named are located in the Mexican states of Sinaloa, Tabasco, Baja California, and Sonora, and their names were made public the day after the Mexican government froze the bank accounts of 13 gambling establishments in Mexico for alleged money laundering and ties to organized crime.
Luftar, who lives between Mexico and Canada, is the family leader and has given interviews about his family’s businesses in Mexico and Europe. “Luftar, Fatos, Arben, and Fabjon have worked closely with a U.S. citizen to launder money, including transferring large amounts of cash from Mexico to the United States, where they used this citizen’s company to launder the funds,” the statements read. “Luftar and Arben have used European companies to enrich themselves with these funds belonging to alleged drug traffickers; furthermore, Luftar owns several companies used by this group.”
