PANews May 31st news, according to Cointelegraph, US Senator Elizabeth Warren has requested drug enforcement agencies to provide the latest information regarding their use of cryptocurrencies in the illegal fentanyl market. "We are calling on the Biden administration to take immediate action to combat drug traffickers using cryptocurrencies to expand their operations and launder illicit funds." Elizabeth Warren hopes that these agencies will respond by June 14th regarding the extent to which they believe cryptocurrencies play a role in drug trafficking, what new measures will be implemented in the next 12 months, and which indicators will be used to measure the success of combating the illegal use of cryptocurrencies in fentanyl transactions.

PANews, May 30th, according to CNN reports, two US senators, Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren from Massachusetts, and Republican Senator Bill Cassidy from Louisiana, are urging the Biden administration to take more measures to combat drug trafficking groups' use of cryptocurrency to smuggle fentanyl. In a new letter to the US Drug Enforcement Administration and the White House, the two senators requested information on the "specific actions" the government has taken to address the role of cryptocurrency in fentanyl trade and the metrics used to measure success. The Biden administration announced several measures last year involving the enforcement, intelligence gathering, and anti-money laundering capabilities of the entire federal apparatus to track and intercept fentanyl proceeds. But now, Warren and Cassidy want to know what progress has been made with these measures, what obstacles the government faces, and what actions Congress can take to provide assistance. The senators expressed their "ongoing concerns" about how cryptocurrencies contribute to the deadly fentanyl trade.

On May 21st, the Southern District of New York's U.S. Attorney's Office announced that RUI-SIANG LIN, the operator of the darknet drug trading market Incognito Market, was arrested on May 18th. LIN will face trial in the Manhattan Federal Court before a U.S. judge. LIN is accused of selling illegal narcotics, including fentanyl, worth over 100 million dollars in the form of cryptocurrency.

Blockchain analytics firm TRM Labs said in a press release on Wednesday that dark web drug dealers who sell fentanyl, an illegal drug that causes severe addiction, have seen a recent decline in revenue. TRM Labs has been tracking more than 100 known suppliers of fentanyl and its precursors, and they have noticed a slowdown in cryptocurrency inflows to addresses associated with these providers during 2023. In January, these vendors received nearly $2 million in cryptocurrency, a figure that dropped to around $1.2 million in May, soared to over $2.5 million in August, but then dropped below $1 million in October, according to TRM.

Blockchain analytics firm TRM Labs said in a press release on Wednesday that dark web drug dealers who sell fentanyl, an illegal drug that causes severe addiction, have seen a recent decline in revenue. TRM Labs has been tracking more than 100 known suppliers of fentanyl and its precursors, and they have noticed a slowdown in cryptocurrency inflows to addresses associated with these providers during 2023. In January, these vendors received nearly $2 million in cryptocurrency, a figure that dropped to around $1.2 million in May, soared to over $2.5 million in August, but then dropped below $1 million in October, according to TRM.

Golden Finance reported that the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on Tuesday added a group of cryptocurrency wallets belonging to individuals and companies to its list of Specially Designated Nationals (SDN), all of which are related to the illegal fentanyl trade. Currently, 6 entities and their digital wallet addresses have been flagged by the government, including 5 individuals and 1 company - Valerian Labs. A total of 17 wallet addresses were identified in OFAC’s actions, covering networks such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Tron. Most illegal transactions on the latter two blockchains are received through stablecoins. With the exception of Valerian Labs, all five individuals had their wallets hosted on the same centralized cryptocurrency exchange, where they each received “hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of cryptocurrency.” The transaction in question was not confirmed.

On October 4, the U.S. Department of Justice announced the unsealing of eight indictments, accusing Chinese chemical manufacturing companies and employees of trafficking in fentanyl precursor chemicals to the United States, saying that these Chinese chemical companies tend to use cryptocurrency transactions to hide their identity and the location and movement of funds. In addition to the criminal prosecution, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) also added 19 relevant crypto wallet addresses to its anti-drug-related sanctions list. According to previous news, according to the "Cryptocurrency and Global Fentanyl Trade" research report released by Elliptic, 100 Chinese suppliers accept cryptocurrency payments to sell fentanyl precursor chemicals, tablet presses and molds.

Odaily Planet Daily reported that the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control imposed sanctions on Jimenez Castro, a member of the Mexican drug cartel Sinaloa, for using an Ethereum wallet to transfer funds related to fentanyl smuggling to the United States. All assets of Jimenez Castro in the United States have been frozen, and his Ethereum address has been banned from trading. (The Block)

Golden Finance reported that the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) imposed sanctions on 10 individuals, including several members of the transnational criminal organization Sinaloa. The Treasury Department said it used Ethereum wallets to transfer funds related to fentanyl smuggling. Transfer to the United States.