According to The Block, the U.S. Department of Justice has officially charged two alleged leaders of the Beltrán Leyva Group, Pedro Inzunza Noriega and his son Pedro Inzunza Coronel, accusing them of involvement in large-scale smuggling of drugs such as fentanyl and cocaine, as well as terrorist activities. Meanwhile, blockchain analysis firms have discovered that the group is laundering money and funding drug activities through cryptocurrency.

According to a Chainalysis report, the group paid over $5.5 million to fentanyl manufacturers using stablecoins, and U.S. authorities have seized related assets. Institutions like TRM Labs and Elliptic have pointed out that suppliers of fentanyl raw materials widely accept crypto payments, with drug-related gangs receiving tens of millions of dollars in cryptocurrency.