Federal authorities have uncovered a complex scheme involving one of Mexico’s most notorious drug cartels and Chinese individuals in the U.S. who laundered millions of dollars from illicit drug sales. The five-year investigation, dubbed “Operation Fortune Runner,” resulted in a 10-count superseding indictment charging Los Angeles-based associates of Mexico’s Sinaloa drug cartel with conspiring with money-laundering groups linked to Chinese underground banking.
During the conspiracy, officials revealed that more than $50 million in drug proceeds flowed between the Sinaloa Cartel associates and Chinese underground money exchanges. The indictment named 24 people related to the alleged money laundering, with charges including 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.
Lead defendant Edgar Joel Martinez-Reyes, along with others, allegedly used various methods to hide the money’s source, including trade-based money laundering, “structuring” assets to avoid federal financial reporting requirements, and the purchase of cryptocurrency. U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada emphasized the importance of going after international criminal syndicates that launder drug money to protect communities from the devastating effects of dangerous drugs.
Twenty of the individuals charged in the superseding indictment are expected to be arraigned in the U.S. District Court in downtown Los Angeles in the coming weeks. Law enforcement has already seized approximately $5 million in narcotics proceeds, along with a significant amount of drugs and weapons. DEA Administrator Anne Milgram highlighted the partnership between Sinaloa Cartel associates and a Chinese criminal syndicate, emphasizing the DEA’s commitment to saving American lives by defeating drug cartels and their support networks.
