LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Follow the money.
That advice from "Deep Throat" — the Washington Post's source during the Watergate scandal, later revealed to be an FBI official named Mark Felt — is just as relevant today in the fight against fentanyl.
And officials in the U.S. Treasury Department, working with banks across the country, are trying to disrupt a partnership of convenience between Mexican drug cartels and Chinese money laundering organizations.
According to Treasury Department, Mexican drug cartels sell U.S. dollars earned from the drug trade to Chinese money laundering organizations in the U.S., because Mexico restricts deposits of dollars in its banks.
The Chinese money launderers, in turn, sell the dollars to people in China who are looking to evade that country's restrictions on foreign currency.
John K. Hurley, Treasury's undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said in an interview Tuesday that there's another troubling aspect to the cycle.
"Normally, money launderers, they just help you hide the cash," he said. "The Chinese money laundering networks also get you more supplies to fuel the problem. So part of the agreement when you deliver that physical cash in the United States is precursors get purchased for you in China, loaded onto a ship, sent to Mexico and [they] use that to make more fentanyl. The whole process starts over again."
Fentanyl has proven to be a deadly epidemic in the United States and here in Nevada. According to the Southern Nevada Health District, fentanyl-induced overdose deaths have increased nearly 700% between 2018 and 2024 in Clark County.
In 2024, the fentanyl death rate reached 18.8 deaths per 100,000 people, accounting for 454 deaths last year alone. Since 2000, more than 1,600 people have died of fentanyl overdoses, according to the health district.
As of May 2025, Metro Police have reported 216 fentanyl deaths.
Hurley was in Las Vegas to address the Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists, to discuss the importance of banks and other financial institutions being on the alert for signs of money laundering.
According to an advisory from the Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, telltale signs include people with Chinese passports who list their occupation as "student," "laborer," or "retired" but who nonetheless deposit large sums of cash.
Other signs: Depositing money into multiple branches of the same bank, depositing into Chinese business accounts or buying cashier's checks with Chinese nationals listed as the payee. Or the launderers may purchase real estate with the money.
In most cases, Hurley says, the Treasury Department relies on banks making reports under the Bank Secrecy Act to alert the government to unusual activities that may be trafficking.
"At the core of it with Treasury, our role is largely has to do with money," he said. "And so, you know, follow the money. Once we've identified where it is, we can block it, and then, along with our law enforcement partners, we can seize it."
"And then, in cases where we find financial institutions like banks that are complicit, we can actually go in and cut that bank off from the U.S. system," Hurley added.
Asked if Chinese money launderers were individuals in private networks or sponsored by the Chinese government, Hurley said there wasn't evidence of state involvement.
"You know, we're learning more," he said. "I think we do suspect that in a place like China, where you've got a government with quite a lot of control, we certainly believe they could be doing more to help with this. But at this point, we aren't finding any indications that it's actually state-sponsored."