The Justice Department on Wednesday released a federal indictment outlining the ties between Chinese organized crime groups and Mexico’s Sinaloa drug cartel.
The 10-count indictment identifies Sinaloa drug operatives in Los Angeles linked to money laundering with Chinese crime groups.
As part of a conspiracy, the Mexicans and Chinese moved more than $50 million in drug proceeds in underground fund exchanges, the department said in a statement.
The multiyear probe, “Operation Fortune Runner,” resulted in drug and money-laundering charges against 24 people.
The main player in the indictment was identified as Edgar Joel Martinez-Reyes, 45, of East Los Angeles. Twenty of those named in the indictment are expected to be arraigned in federal court in Los Angeles in the coming weeks.
“Dangerous drugs like fentanyl and methamphetamine are destroying people’s lives but drug traffickers only care about their profits,” said Martin Estrada, U.S. attorney for the Central District of California.
“To protect our community, therefore, it is essential that we go after the sophisticated, international criminal syndicates that launder the drug money.”
Drug Enforcement Administration Administrator Anne Milgram said: “This DEA investigation uncovered a partnership between Sinaloa Cartel associates and a Chinese criminal syndicate operating in Los Angeles and China to launder drug money.”
Law enforcement officials seized approximately $5 million in drug proceeds, 302 pounds of cocaine, 92 pounds of methamphetamine, 3,000 ecstasy pills, 44 pounds of psilocybin or “magic mushrooms,” numerous ounces of ketamine, three semiautomatic rifles with high-capacity magazines and eight semiautomatic handguns.
The money laundering involved “many wealthy Chinese” who sought to transfer assets to the United States that are barred under Chinese law. Beijing limits cash transfers to $50,000 a year.
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