[Photo: by Dominicus Johannes Bergsma / Wikimedia Commons]

Dutch lawyers and rights activists Thursday filed a criminal complaint against Rabobank accusing the lender of complicity in money-laundering by Mexican drug cartels and urging prosecutors to investigate.

Acting on behalf of Fernando Hernandez, a Mexican now living in The Netherlands, the SMX Collective filed the complaint against the bank and its executives to the Dutch prosecution.

It accused the bank of "having laundered structurally and for a long period of time the proceeds of crimes committed by Mexican drugs cartels" via a branch of its subsidiary in Calexico, southern California, just over the border from Mexico.

While the Calexico branch has been closed since 2015, as has been under investigation by U.S. federal authorities – also related to allegations of money laundering - Dutch prosecutors have jurisdiction over any crimes committed by Rabobank, as the bank's global headquarters are in Utrecht.

Rabobank, one of The Netherlands' largest banks, emerged from small cooperative banks in the late 19th century serving farmers and horticulturists and is active in 40 countries.

A Rabobank spokesperson told the Dutch court that the company had only just received the complaint and was not commenting on the accusations. But he added Rabobank had been "cooperating with the US authorities" and their investigation.

In 2013 Rabobank was heavily fined by regulators in Britain, France and The Netherlands for conspiring with other large banks in the so-called Libor scandal, a scheme which manipulated a key reference for the dollar and the yen.