FBI: Drug Cartel Money Laundering Takedown

The FBI web site offers an interesting piece on the takedown of a money laudering operation for a major drug cartel.

In a major takedown in Los Angeles on Wednesday, September 10, nearly 1,000 federal, state, and local law enforcement officers seized approximately $100 million in cash, arrested nine subjects, and searched dozen of businesses in the city’s downtown fashion district alleged to have laundered money for Mexican drug cartels.

The ongoing investigation—three indictments were unsealed Wednesday—is specifically aimed at the Sinaloa Cartel and its activities, including narcotics trafficking, hostage taking, and money laundering in Los Angeles and elsewhere in the U.S. and Mexico.

In one case, the cartel used a fashion district business to funnel ransom payments related to a kidnapped U.S. citizen who was held hostage and tortured by cartel members in Mexico.

“The victim, who worked as a distributor for the Sinaloa Cartel, was kidnapped after 100 kilograms of cocaine he was supposed to distribute were seized by U.S. law enforcement,” said Bill Lewis, assistant director in charge of our Los Angeles Field Office. The victim—who was ultimately released and safely returned to the U.S.—was kidnapped because of his drug debt.

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2014/september/money-laundering-takedown