Treasury Targets Cartel Del Noreste’s Horse Racing Enterprise And Expansive Criminal Network

The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on Tuesday sanctioned four individuals and 11 entities connected to the U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) Cartel del Noreste (CDN). Those designated include individuals and businesses involved in quarter horse racing, construction, trucking, and the oil and gas sector, highlighting the cartel’s diverse commercial footprint. CDN’s evolution from its predecessor, Los Zetas—responsible for some of the deadliest mass‑casualty attacks in Mexican history—underscores the severity of CDN’s continued threat to the United States and the region.

“Today’s action exposes Cartel del Noreste’s exploitation of the horse racing sector to launder illicit proceeds and finance cartel operations,” said Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent. “This action marks Treasury’s most significant effort to date to disrupt Cartel del Noreste’s financial infrastructure. Treasury, in close coordination with our law enforcement partners, remains committed to protecting the U.S. financial system from misuse by violent cartels.”

CDN’s stronghold sits directly across the border from Laredo, Texas, the busiest port of entry (POE) on the southern border, where nearly 40 percent of all commercial traffic between the United States and Mexico crosses. This deep entrenchment in cross-border industries, combined with CDN’s ability to infiltrate local governments, steer public contracts, and manipulate regional elections, undermines legitimate authority and destabilizes communities on both sides of the border.

In keeping with President Trump’s pledge to eliminate cartels, OFAC has prioritized targeting these and other criminal groups that threaten the welfare of Americans in close coordination with the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF), taking nearly 40 actions against over 500 individuals and entities since the beginning of 2025. OFAC uses a network-based approach to simultaneously disrupt as many different facets of the cartels as possible, from their leadership and key organizational nodes to facilitators and enablers, such as corrupt officials, complicit family members, and ostensibly legitimate front persons.

Tuesday’s action reflects a unified, whole-of-government effort to ensure operational coordination and maximize impact against transnational criminal networks. OFAC conducted its investigation in parallel with the HSTF, with support from the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, including the U.S. Border Patrol, the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, as well as assistance from the Federal Bureau of Prisons and the U.S. Marshals Service. OFAC continues to work closely with the HSTF to disrupt the flow of illicit drugs and dismantle the networks, facilitators, and financial infrastructure that enable their production and distribution. Additionally, OFAC coordinated on this action and previous actions against CDN with the Government of Mexico’s financial intelligence unit, the Unidad de Inteligencia Financiera (UIF).

The action was taken pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 14059, which targets the international proliferation of illicit drugs and their means of production, and pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended by E.O. 13886 (collectively, E.O.13224, as amended), which targets terrorists and their supporters. This is OFAC’s fourth and largest action to date targeting CDN networks during the Trump Administration. On May 21, 2025, OFAC designated two high-ranking members and arms traffickers of CDN. On August 6, 2025, OFAC designated three high-ranking members and one associate of CDN, including famous narco-rapper El Makabelico. Earlier this year, on April 14, 2026, OFAC designated three entities and three associates of CDN, including Casino Centenario, a casino just miles from the U.S. border, and Juan Pablo Penilla Rodriguez, criminal advisor to CDN.

Based in Mexico directly across from one of the busiest American border crossings, CDN is a violent terrorist cartel founded by the notorious brothers Miguel Angel “Z-40” Trevino Morales and Oscar Omar “Z-42” Trevino Morales. CDN has been involved in the trafficking of narcotics and other illicit drugs, including fentanyl, crystal methamphetamine, heroin, marijuana, and cocaine. CDN, formerly known as Los Zetas, has engaged in horrific violence over the years. This year marks the fifteenth anniversary of the August 25, 2011 deadly Los Zetas arson attack on a casino in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico. This arson attack killed 52 people and injured dozens more, with a majority of those killed being women. This firebombing became one of the deadliest cartel attacks against civilians in Mexican history.

Z-40 and Z-42 were arrested by Mexican authorities in 2013 and 2015, respectively, but maintained control over the cartel utilizing corrupt attorneys, including Juan Pablo Penilla Rodriguez, whom OFAC designated in April 2026. The Trevino brothers were transferred from Mexico in February 2025 and are currently facing drug trafficking, racketeering, firearms, and money laundering charges in the District Court for the District of Columbia, with a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. CDN, then known as Los Zetas, was identified by the United States as a specially designated foreign narcotics trafficker on April 15, 2009, pursuant to the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act (Kingpin Act). On July 24, 2011, Los Zetas was named as a transnational criminal organization (TCO) in the annex to E.O. 13581. On December 15, 2021, OFAC designated CDN pursuant to E.O. 14059. On February 20, 2025, the U.S. Department of State designated CDN as an FTO and as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT).