Smashing the Sinaloa cartel: Major coup for DEA as agents seize $6MILLION cash, hundreds of pounds of narcotics and indict 75 across America for ‘laundering drug money for El Chapo’s gang’
Authorities charged 40 people in San Diego with conspiring to launder tens of millions of dollars in drug money from cities across the U.S. to cartels in Mexico
Law enforcement seized more than $6 million in cash
209 pounds of methamphetamine, 138 pounds of heroin, 22 pounds of fentanyl, 202 pounds of cocaine and 554 pounds of marijuana was also seized
The drugs would have been worth millions of dollars on the street
20 firearms, including semiautomatic rifles and handguns were also seized
Another 35 people were charged in other parts of the country
The FBI deployed undercover agents and task force officers from various law enforcement to infiltrate
DAILYMAIL.COM
9 March 2018
Federal prosecutors have indicted 75 people including 40 in San Diego in a massive drugs and money operation which has been called the biggest money laundering investigation ever in the Californian city.
The defendants allegedly laundered drug proceeds from the Sinaloa cartel for years, U.S. Attorney Adam Braverman said at a news conference in downtown San Diego.
He said the network was responsible for laundering tens of millions of dollars in drug profits over the past three years.
‘We have siphoned the cash and life out of a San Diego-based international money laundering organization with ties to the Sinaloa cartel,’ Braverman said.
According to the San Diego Tribune, investigators managed to seize $6 million in cash thanks to a three-year probe undertaken by the FBI’s Cross Border Violence Task Force.
Hundreds of pounds of drugs like methamphetamine, fentanyl, heroin, cocaine and marijuana were also seized.
Roberto Lopez-Albarran, 32, the alleged leader of the operation was arrested in San Diego on February 9 and had already been in custody for the last month.
Another 21 people who were named in a series of four other related indictments that were handed down by a San Diego grand jury are also in custody.
Although the investigation focused on activity in San Diego, 35 others were charged for their role in money laundering and drug sales in federal courts in Ohio, Kentucky, Kansas and Washington.
25 of those defendants were in custody as of Thursday.
As leader of the organization, Lopez allegedly oversaw a large network of people dubbed ‘money movers’ who moved huge amounts of cash around the country which was then taken back to Mexico.
The cash would be hidden in secret compartments of vehicles, or in cash-stuffed duffel bags, luggage and even shoe boxes.
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