“These two groups have discovered that they have mutual interests,” U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said of the Mexican cartels and the Chinese money launderers.
Two dozen Los Angeles-based associates of Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel were charged in a sophisticated scheme to launder more than $50 million in drug money through an underground banking system run by Chinese nationals in the United States, federal prosecutors said Tuesday.
The case, outlined in a 10-count superseding indictment, highlights the growing relationship between Mexican cartels and Chinese citizens in the U.S., and the complex system they have developed to finance drug operations and launder the proceeds, authorities said.
The money laundering scheme was overseen by Edgar Joel Martinez-Reyes, 45, of East Los Angeles, who traveled to Mexico in January 2021 to meet with Sinaloa cartel members and strike a deal involving people with links to the underground Chinese banking system, prosecutors said.
“These two groups have discovered that they have mutual interests,” U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said of the Mexican cartels and the Chinese money launderers.
It began with federal drug agents tracking suspects, some of them Chinese, as they collected bags of cash from cartel associates in and around the Los Angeles area.
During one such law enforcement operation in May 2021, one of the defendants, Daniel Gonzalez, intentionally slammed his car into a vehicle driven by one of the DEA agents in a bid to obstruct the investigation and injure the officer, the indictment says.
The original article contains 471 words, the summary contains 218 words. Saved 54%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Two dozen Los Angeles-based associates of Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel were charged in a sophisticated scheme to launder more than $50 million in drug money through an underground banking system run by Chinese nationals in the United States, federal prosecutors said Tuesday.
The case, outlined in a 10-count superseding indictment, highlights the growing relationship between Mexican cartels and Chinese citizens in the U.S., and the complex system they have developed to finance drug operations and launder the proceeds, authorities said.
The money laundering scheme was overseen by Edgar Joel Martinez-Reyes, 45, of East Los Angeles, who traveled to Mexico in January 2021 to meet with Sinaloa cartel members and strike a deal involving people with links to the underground Chinese banking system, prosecutors said.
“These two groups have discovered that they have mutual interests,” U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said of the Mexican cartels and the Chinese money launderers.
It began with federal drug agents tracking suspects, some of them Chinese, as they collected bags of cash from cartel associates in and around the Los Angeles area.
During one such law enforcement operation in May 2021, one of the defendants, Daniel Gonzalez, intentionally slammed his car into a vehicle driven by one of the DEA agents in a bid to obstruct the investigation and injure the officer, the indictment says.
The original article contains 471 words, the summary contains 218 words. Saved 54%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!