U.S. sanctions Mexican cartel’s horse racing and business network
The U.S. Treasury Department has sanctioned a horse racing operation and a business network accused of financing Mexico’s Cartel del Noreste and laundering its proceeds. The action targets four people and 11 entities involved in horse racing, construction, trucking and the oil and gas industry.
The sanctions announced Tuesday include Club La Molienda, a racetrack, restaurant and bar outside Nuevo Laredo in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas, across the border from Laredo, Texas. Treasury said the cartel controls the venue and collects fees from spectators and people racing their horses.
Cartel leaders and members purchase horses, including animals from the United States, to race at La Molienda. The track also had a gambling partnership with Casino Centenario before Mexican authorities suspended the casino’s operations in April.
Among those sanctioned are businessman Gamaliel Garza Garcia and his son, Gamaliel Garza Elias. Treasury accused the father’s construction company, CEGESA, of funneling money into campaigns for the cartel’s preferred political candidates and obtaining government contracts through corruption before subcontracting work to cartel associates.
Garza Elias allegedly delivered cash to those campaigns and helped run CEGESA’s daily operations. The sanctions also cover Garza Garcia’s construction-materials supplier, COPASA, his Cuadra San Dibanh horse racing barn in Nuevo Leon, and six construction and fuel businesses in Nuevo Laredo.
The action also targets Pablo Cesar Guajardo Alvarez, known as “Takia,” whom Treasury identified as the cartel leader overseeing its activities in Nuevo Laredo. The department said he previously led its gunmen and has trafficked weapons for the group.
Trucking company Tamex and dispatcher Francisco Javier Inzunza Partida were sanctioned over alleged drug smuggling. Treasury said two trailers dispatched from the company’s Nuevo Laredo yard were intercepted carrying a combined 52 kilograms (115 pounds) of cocaine concealed in their brake drums.
“Today’s action exposes Cartel del Noreste’s exploitation of the horse racing sector to launder illicit proceeds and finance cartel operations,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said. “This action marks Treasury’s most significant effort to date to disrupt Cartel del Noreste’s financial infrastructure.”
Cartel del Noreste emerged from Los Zetas and was designated a foreign terrorist organization by the United States in February 2025. Treasury said its involvement in horse racing follows an earlier Los Zetas operation that used drug proceeds to buy, train and race horses in the United States.
U.S. authorities seized 455 horses in June 2012 as part of that investigation. According to Treasury, the operation laundered upwards of $22 million for the cartel.
Wednesday’s sanctions block the designated parties’ property under U.S. jurisdiction and generally prohibit U.S. individuals and businesses from dealing with them. Treasury said the investigation was coordinated with U.S. law enforcement agencies and Mexico’s financial intelligence unit.
