On-chain transparency has become a double-edged sword; drug traffickers also know how to run away with USDT.

According to Bloomberg, the U.S. Treasury Department's OFAC has imposed sanctions on an operator of the Sinaloa drug cartel, Armando de Jesus Ojeda Aviles, and several accomplices, accusing them of using cryptocurrencies to transfer proceeds from the sale of fentanyl, cocaine, and methamphetamine back to Mexico, and collecting cash through couriers within the United States before transferring it via digital currency.
In April 2024, a federal grand jury in Colorado also indicted another accomplice in the network, Rodrigo Alarcon Palomares, accusing him of money laundering through cryptocurrencies.