US sanctions 8 Canadian currency exchanges over alleged Iran sanctions evasion and drug ring links
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent Photograph: (Credit: AFP)
The US Department of the Treasury has sanctioned eight Canadian currency-exchange businesses for helping the Iranian regime evade sanctions and laundering funds for narco-kingpin Ryan Wedding.
The US Department of the Treasury has sanctioned eight Canadian currency-exchange businesses, cutting them off from the US financial system for helping the Iranian regime evade international sanctions and assisting a major drug-trafficking operation. According to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, the targeted companies enabled Iranian entities and proxy groups, including the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a designated terrorist organisation in Canada, to circumvent financial restrictions. To evade law enforcement detection, several of these businesses repeatedly altered their official names and corporate addresses.
The illicit network operated by converting Iranian rials and various foreign currencies into digital assets, such as cryptocurrency. Beyond aiding Tehran's sanction-evasion tactics, three of the sanctioned firms were implicated in laundering funds for Ryan Wedding, a former Olympic athlete turned alleged drug kingpin. Officials report these companies processed bulk cash into digital currency, transferring millions of dollars abroad prior to Wedding's arrest in January.
The US embassy in Ottawa tweeted, “The United States coordinated this action closely with Canada, including Canada’s financial intelligence unit, FINTRAC. It reflects our shared commitment to protecting the North American financial system from abuse. Several of the designated businesses also laundered proceeds from drug trafficking, which shows how the same illicit networks serve both Iran and criminal organisations that threaten the safety of our communities.”
Adding, "We will keep working with Canada and other international partners to expose these networks, shut them down, and make sure no country becomes a refuge for people who finance terrorism and evade sanctions.”
The sanctions freeze any US-based assets owned by the designated firms and strictly prohibit American individuals and institutions from conducting business with them. This targeted action aligns with broader US economic measures designed to cut off financial avenues supporting the Iranian government. The pressure campaign intensified following the Trump administration's expansion of secondary sanctions against foreign entities maintaining commercial ties with Iran.
Reaffirming the administration's stance, Secretary Bessent emphasised that Canada cannot serve as a refuge for financial facilitators operating on behalf of Tehran, reiterating the US commitment to isolating the Iranian regime economically until its financial lifelines are fully severed.
