An indictment unsealed last week, US prosecutors detailed how California residents, who allegedly worked with the notorious Sinaloa Cartel. Deposited tens and thousands of dollars at Citi ATMs. On Three occasions in January 2021, they allegedly fed a total of $36, 000 in illicit cash into the machines, a few hundred dollars at a time, waiting just a minute or two between each transaction. They were clever enough to splitting the sum into smaller deposits, and they stayed below the $10, 000 threshold at which banks are required to report cash transactions to the US Treasury.

Drug enforcement Administration told the duo Guillermo Zambrano and Luis Belandria-Contrers, alleged to be part of the criminal network that laundered at least $50 million in fentanyl and meth proceeds in the US, scoped out several banks before chosing Citi.   

Citi declined to comment on the specific case citing secrecy requirements around transaction reporting. The indictment also details how another defendant, Jiayong Yu, allegedly deposited a cashier’s cheque  of $100, 000 at a JP Morgan Chase ATN, branch at Chase Bank teller window last year.