Mexican cartels use crypto mining for money laundering

Mexican authorities have dismantled a suspected illegal crypto mining operation in the mountainous area around Tlaola, in the state of Puebla. They seized 300 GPUs, 80 medium-voltage connections and eight satellite antennas. It is the fourth comparable find in the region since the start of 2025. Investigators are examining whether the site stole power from a nearby hydroelectric plant. According to blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis, Latin American cartels are increasingly using crypto to launder money. Reports Reuters,

In brief:

• Mexican authorities found an illegal mining operation with 300 GPUs in Puebla, the fourth in the region since early 2025.
• Investigators suspect the operation stole power from a nearby hydroelectric plant.
• Globally, illegal crypto transactions doubled in 2025 to an estimated $154 billion, according to Chainalysis.

Cartels are using crypto mining as a money laundering tool

Crypto mining represents a new frontier in Mexico’s fight against organised crime. Cartels are expanding their activities from drug trafficking and extortion into financial crime, and are increasingly deploying digital tools to do so.

Security analyst David Saucedo, who works in Mexico, argues that drug cartels have reached a new level of sophistication. Setting up such an operation requires technical knowledge and financial firepower, which points to the involvement of one of Mexico’s most powerful cartels. The Mexican federal prosecutor’s office declined to comment because of an ongoing investigation.

Cartels deliberately choose locations where power is cheap or can be stolen under the influence of organised crime, according to Chainalysis. In Puebla, authorities are investigating whether the illegal mining operation used stolen power from an adjacent hydroelectric plant.

Illegal crypto transactions more than doubled in 2025

Globally, the volume of illegal crypto transactions rose sharply in 2025. Addresses linked to criminal activity received an estimated $154 billion, against $59 billion a year earlier. That is according to data from Chainalysis, which analysed transaction volumes to suspicious addresses.

Chainalysis attributes a large part of that increase to a rise in transactions used to circumvent sanctions, including payments involving sanctioned governments. Caio Motta, a Latin America specialist at Chainalysis, says that cartels in the region are increasingly deploying mining operations and crypto payments to launder criminal money, in parallel with the broader global growth in legal crypto use.