Mexican President Obrador's Is Targeting Drug Cartel Finances

Mexico's new President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador holds a news conference at National Palace in Mexico City, Mexico December 3, 2018. REUTERS/Edgard Garrid

Reuters: Mexican President Obrador's Is Targeting Drug Cartel Finances

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador is taking aim at the finances of the powerful Jalisco cartel in what a top anti-money laundering official said was an opening salvo in the fight to stop criminal gangs from flourishing with impunity.

Santiago Nieto, new head of the finance ministry’s Financial Intelligence Unit, told Reuters on Thursday he had filed a complaint against three businesses and seven people linked to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel. On Wednesday, the finance ministry had said Nieto’s unit filed its first complaint with prosecutors, but provided no details.

The move against the Jalisco cartel, a relative newcomer that has risen to become one of Mexico’s most dangerous criminal gangs, sends a “first message” under Lopez Obrador, who took office Saturday, of his government’s determination to crack down on drug gang finances, Nieto said.

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WNU Editor: This is long overdue. And when we start hearing of asset and bank account seizures, that is when we will all know that Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador is serious on taking the necessary steps to end the drug war that has engulfed Mexico for years.