Chinese Money-Laundering Networks Emerge as Key Financial Channel for Latin American Cartels

Chinese money-laundering networks (CMLNs) have become a central financial conduit for Latin American drug cartels, linking Chinese capital flight to the global drug economy, according to a new analysis published this week.

The report argues that CMLNs now function as a shadow liquidity system, enabling cartels, particularly in Mexico, to convert bulk U.S. drug cash into usable purchasing power inside China without formal cross-border transfers. This mechanism allows criminal groups to access Chinese industrial supply chains, including producers of fentanyl precursors, pill presses and consumer goods, while simultaneously facilitating offshore dollar access for wealthy Chinese clients seeking to move capital abroad.

U.S. regulators have highlighted the growing scale of the phenomenon. In August 2025, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) flagged more than $300 billion in suspected transactions linked to Chinese laundering networks and Mexican cartels between 2020 and 2024, underscoring the limits of traditional enforcement approaches.

The analysis describes a three-tier system in which Chinese elites seeking to bypass capital controls supply renminbi liquidity, CMLNs act as intermediaries through mirror transfers and crypto-based settlement, and cartels emerge as downstream users of the resulting financial infrastructure. Experts warn that this structure transforms a domestic Chinese financial imbalance into a global security threat, fueling drug trafficking, violence and illicit capital flows across North America and beyond.

The report concludes that tackling the issue will require a shift from targeting individual actors to addressing the underlying financial architecture, with growing reliance on artificial intelligence and advanced financial intelligence tools to track and disrupt global illicit liquidity networks.

Kursiv Uzbekistan reports that President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev held talks with Nobumitsu Hayashi, Governor of the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC).