U.S. Treasury Identifies Two Cartel-Connected Casinos in Mexican Border State

The U.S. Department of the Treasury has identified two cartel-connected groups in the border state of Tamaulipas, as well as three of their main operators. As part of the move, the U.S. government is freezing any related accounts and prohibiting U.S. citizens from doing business with the sanctioned individuals.

Information released by the Treasury Department revealed that Casino Centenario, located less than two miles south of the Texas border in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, is owned and operated by the Cartel Del Noreste faction of Los Zetas through shell companies. In the backrooms of the casino, cartel gunmen would hold and torture some of their victims. In addition to being used to launder money, the Zetas also use the casino as a stash house to store fentanyl and cocaine, federal authorities revealed.

The shell company behind the casino is Comercializadora y Arrendadora de Mexico SA de CV (CAMSA). The casino is known to draw U.S. tourists. Following the issuance of the sanctions, U.S. citizens are prohibited from doing business there, the Treasury Department stated. CAMSA also operates a second casino in Tamaulipas, Casino Diamante, in the port city of Tampico, located in the southern part of the state. That casino is also a known cartel operation, and U.S. citizens are also prohibited from doing business there.

In their actions, the U.S. Department of the Treasury also identified Eduardo Javier “El Crosty” Islas Valdez, the CDN-Los Zetas leader for human smugglers or Pateros in Nuevo Laredo. In the same action, authorities also identified Juan Pablo Penilla Rodriguez, a defense attorney in Mexico. Authorities claimed that Penilla worked illegally for the CDN-Los Zetas, going beyond his role as attorney and establishing a communications channel between the criminal organization and their then jailed leader, Miguel Angel (Z-40) Trevino Morales. For several years, Morales led his organization from behind bars. As Breitbart Texas reported, soon after the start of the Trump administration, Mexico sent Morales along with several other cartel figures as a way to appease the pressure after the White House claimed that Mexico’s government was protecting drug cartels.

As Breitbart Texas reported, the U.S. Department of the Treasury also singled out Raymundo Ramos, the leader of the Nuevo Laredo Human Rights Commission, who they claim in reality is a cartel operator that handles the criminal organization’s propaganda wing.