The U.S. Treasury Department on Tuesday issued sanctions against three individuals and two casinos for their alleged links to Mexico's Cartel del Noreste, one of several criminal groups designated last year as terrorist organizations by the Trump administration.

Washington has intensified its crackdown on the Cartel del Noreste - heir to the former Zetas - which has been accused of trafficking weapons, drugs and people, and is characterized by its violent practices and extortion. Its base is Nuevo Laredo, the busiest commercial port on the U.S.-Mexico border.

Among the entities sanctioned is Casino Centenario, a gambling venue in the border city of Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, which the U.S. claims functions as a drug storage hub and a mechanism for laundering money through gambling activities.

The Treasury also sanctioned Diamante Casino, headquartered in the northern city of Tampico - also in Tamaulipas - which operates an online betting site.

Sanctions were also leveled against high-profile enablers, including Eduardo Javier Islas Valdez - the alleged "gatekeeper" of the cartel's human smuggling routes into Texas - and attorney Juan Pablo Penilla Rodríguez, cited for providing illicit support.

Notably, the list includes activist Jesús Reymundo Ramos, whom the Treasury Department identified as a paid operative responsible for spreading cartel disinformation under the guise of human rights advocacy.

The U.S. sanctions block assets the targeted people have in the United States and prohibit people from doing business with them in the U.S.

Ramos did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In March 2023, Ramos alleged that the Mexican army and government orchestrated accusations linking him to the cartel, which he denied. An independent investigation later confirmed that his phone had been compromised by Pegasus spyware in 2020.

According to U.S. authorities, Penilla Rodríguez assisted one of the leaders of Los Zetas - Miguel Ángel Treviño Morales, alias Z-40 - who was extradited to the U.S. last year along with his brother and the organization's ringleader, Omar Treviño Morales, and 27 other people.

Two individuals and the popular Mexican rapper Ricardo Hernández Medrano - known as El Makabelico, or Comando Exclusivo - were sanctioned in August for alleged ties to the criminal organization.

"Campaign of terror on the border"   

According to the Treasury Department,  Cartel del Noreste (CDN) is involved in the trafficking of illegal drugs along the border, including fentanyl, crystal meth, heroin and cocaine, and has waged a "campaign of terror on the border."  

"CDN is involved in violent criminal activity on both sides of the border, including the kidnapping and killing of individuals that threaten their criminal enterprise on the southern border," the department says. "CDN uses its terror-fueled influence in the region to control drug trafficking and human smuggling routes, bribe politicians and journalists, and extort local businesses and shipments flowing to and from the United States at the busiest inland point of entry for trade in the United States."  

In November 2024, two high ranking cartel members were sentenced to prison in the U.S. for their roles in an extensive human smuggling conspiracy involving Cartel del Noreste. 

"By degrading CDN's revenue streams and safe havens, the United States is acting to protect lawful cross-border commerce, safeguard American border communities, stop the trafficking of fentanyl and other illicit drugs killing Americans, and strengthen our shared efforts with Mexico to degrade and dismantle narco-terrorist organizations," State Department Thomas Pigott said in a statement Tuesday.