Baja California contracts tied to U.S.-sanctioned company
Original reporting: Noticias PV
What happened
Baja California awarded six 2024 contracts to a company the U.S. Treasury linked to alleged Sinaloa Cartel money-laundering schemes; the state ordered an audit.
Reporting and context
Baja California contracts tied to U.S.-sanctioned company
Baja California’s government awarded six public contracts worth 6,080,938 pesos (about $6 million pesos, before taxes) in 2024 to Inteliproof Efficient S. de R.L. de C.V., a company linked by the U.S. Treasury to money-laundering schemes allegedly serving the Sinaloa Cartel. According to official Compranet records cited by Noticias PV, the contracts were awarded directly by the state’s administrative office and covered computer and digital-storage equipment, protective clothing for the Local Search Commission, and transportation-equipment parts.
The company’s partners include Jorge Enrique Figueroa Barrozo and Marco Antonio Moreno Gómez Santelices. The U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned Moreno Gómez Santelices for allegedly providing financial and technological support to the Los Mayos faction of the Sinaloa Cartel and to operator René Arzate García, known as “La Rana.” The Treasury designation also involved a broader network that included 21 people and 25 corporate entities along the Baja California border, according to the source’s account.
Noticias PV reported that U.S. sanctions also named Carlos Alberto Torres Torres, the governor’s former husband, and his brother Luis Alfonso over alleged protection and bribery exchanges with criminal groups in Mexicali. Baja California’s government said the governor is legally divorced from Torres Torres, has no property or accounts outside Mexico, and ordered an audit of current contracts with the companies identified in the allegations. The source article is available at https://www.noticiaspv.com.mx/vinculan-contratos-de-baja-california-con-red-ligada-al-cartel-de-sinaloa.