Follow the crypto: In its fight against fentanyl, DHS is tracing cryptocurrency used by Mexican drug cartels

The Department of Homeland Security has ramped up its effort to stop fentanyl and the chemicals used to make it from entering the U.S. by tracing cryptocurrency used by Mexican cartels, according to two U.S. officials involved in the strategy.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told NBC News in an interview at the International Mail Facility at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York on Thursday that DHS “is seeking to hold individuals accountable, seizing their property and also interdicting and interrupting their financial flow.”