Federal authorities announced that a five-year investigation has uncovered a complex scheme between one of Mexico’s most notorious drug cartels and Chinese individuals in the U.S. who laundered millions of dollars from illegal drug sales.
On Tuesday, the Justice Department announced an indictment, leveling 10 charges Los Angeles-based affiliates Mexico’s Sinaloa drug cartel is accused of conspiring with money laundering groups linked to Chinese underground banking to launder the proceeds of drug trafficking.
During the conspiracy, officials said that $50 million in drug revenue Flows occurred between Sinaloa Cartel affiliates and Chinese underground currency exchanges.
The multi-year investigation into the conspiracy, codenamed “Operation Fortune Runner,” resulted in an indictment on 10 counts naming 24 individuals in connection with the alleged money laundering.
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This undated photo provided by the U.S. District Attorney shows seized drugs loaded into a truck. The Justice Department today announced a 10-count indictment accusing Los Angeles-based affiliates of Mexico’s Sinaloa drug cartel of conspiring with money-laundering groups linked to Chinese underground banking to launder the proceeds of drug trafficking. (US District Attorney via AP)
The charges include conspiracy to aid and abet the distribution of cocaine and methamphetamine, conspiracy to launder monetary instruments, and conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business.
The indictment alleges that a money laundering network tied to the Sinaloa Cartel processed large amounts of drug proceeds into U.S. currency in the Los Angeles area with the assistance of a San Gabriel Valley, California-based money remittance group with ties to Chinese underground banking.
The group then allegedly concealed its drug trafficking proceeds and made public the income earned in the US. Cartel members in Mexico and elsewhere.
Affiliates of the powerful Sinaloa Cartel conspired with Chinese groups to conceal more than $50 million in narcotics profits, much of which was processed in the Los Angeles area, prosecutors said in a news release. (US District Attorney via AP)
The main accused, East Los Angeles resident Edgar Joel Martinez-Reyes, 45, and others allegedly used a variety of methods to conceal the source of the funds, including trade based money laundering, “Structuring” assets to avoid federal financial reporting requirements, and purchasing cryptocurrencies.
“Dangerous drugs like fentanyl and methamphetamine are destroying people’s lives, but drug traffickers care only about their profits,” said Martin Estrada, U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California. “So, to protect our community, it’s imperative that we go after the sophisticated, international criminal syndicates that launder drug money. As this indictment and our international actions show, we will remain resolute in our pursuit of all those who facilitate destruction in our country and ensure they are held accountable for their actions.”
Dozens charged in international drug smuggling operation linked to brutal Mexican cartel
The Justice Department has announced a 10-count indictment accusing Los Angeles-based affiliates of Mexico’s Sinaloa drug cartel of conspiring with money laundering groups linked to Chinese underground banking to launder the proceeds of drug trafficking. (United States Drug Enforcement Administration)
Twenty of the charged individuals are expected to be arraigned in U.S. District Court in downtown Los Angeles in the coming weeks, including one who was arraigned on Monday.
“Relentless greed, the pursuit of money, motivates the Mexican drug cartels that are responsible for the worst drug crisis in U.S. history. This DEA investigation exposed a partnership between associates of the Sinaloa Cartel and a Chinese criminal syndicate working to launder drug money in Los Angeles and China. Laundering drug money gives the Sinaloa Cartel the means to produce and import its deadly poisons into the United States. DEA’s top operational priority is to save American lives by defeating the cartels and those who support their operations. This investigation is the latest example of that, and there are many more to come.” – DEA Administrator Anne Milgram
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As part of this investigation, law enforcement agencies seized approximately $5 million worth of narcotics, including 302 pounds of cocaine, 92 pounds of methamphetamine, 3,000 ecstasy pills, 44 pounds of psilocybin (magic mushrooms), several ounces of ketamine, three semi-automatic rifles with high-capacity magazines, and eight semi-automatic handguns.
