The complaint alleges that Pineda-Sanchez, Parra-Pedroza, and 29 associates laundered more than $100 million in drug proceeds since 2011 for the Sinaloa Cartel. IRS CI brings, and will continue to bring, its financial expertise to disrupt and dismantle the Sinaloa Cartel’s drug trafficking organization.” Lee of the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division (IRS CI) in Chicago added, “IRS Criminal Investigation is committed to fighting the war on drugs. “Criminals are turning to sophisticated trade-based schemes to launder their money and cover their tracks, but these arrests should serve as a stern warning to those doing business with drug traffickers – you will ultimately pay the price.” “Chicago is a hub for narcotics money laundering, with dirty money changing hands all too often in public parking lots throughout the city and suburbs,” said Special Agent-in-Charge Hartwig. “These charges reflect the tireless work of federal, state, and local authorities to stop not only those individuals who make that destructive business possible, but profitable.” Fardon, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois. “The drug trade is driven by money earned at the expense of countless devastated lives and ravaged communities,” said Zachary T. The investigation was conducted under the umbrella of the United States Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF). The following agencies also provided significant assistance in the investigation: the Drug Enforcement Administration Cook County Sheriff’s Office DuPage County Sheriff’s Office Chicago Police Department Buffalo Grove Police Department the Joliet Metropolitan Area Narcotics Squad, and the United States Marshals Service. Vasilko, Special Agent-in-Charge of ATF in Chicago. Lee, Special Agent-in-Charge of IRS’s Criminal Investigation Division and Carl J. Fardon, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, with Gary Hartwig, Special Agent-in-Charge of HSI in Chicago James C. That case is currently before Judge Harry D. A federal grand jury charged both men by indictment in December 2014, with multiple counts of money laundering based on four of the 49 separate instances of money laundering noted in the complaint filed on Monday. District Court yesterday and eight remain in federal custody pending detention hearings scheduled for later this week.Īlleged conspiracy leaders DIEGO PIENDA-SANCHEZ, 30, and CARLOS PARRA-PEDROZA, 31, were arrested on related money laundering charges in late-September 2014, while visiting the United States from their native Guadalajara, Mexico. The federal defendants arrested yesterday in the Chicago area appeared before Magistrate Judge Daniel Martin in U.S. District Court and unsealed following the arrests Tuesday morning. Thirty-one of the defendants were charged with conspiring to launder narcotics proceeds for the Sinaloa Cartel in a 311-page criminal complaint that was filed Monday in U.S. currency, 28 firearms, 42 kilograms of cocaine (92 pounds), and over two tons of marijuana, as well as large amounts of heroin and methamphetamine. ![]() Prior to this week’s arrests, in the course of the three-and-a-half-year investigation, agents seized more than $2.8 million in U.S. Agents also arrested the defendant facing state charges. ![]() ![]() Fifteen defendants are fugitives, several of whom are believed to be in Mexico. Four federal defendants, including two of the alleged conspiracy leaders, were already in state or federal custody. Ten of those defendants were arrested in the Chicago area, and two werearrested in Kentucky and Georgia. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation Division and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), together with other federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies.Īgents this week seized 12 firearms while arresting 12 of the federal defendants. The federal charges, contained in a criminal complaint, stem from a multi-year investigation of money laundering and drug trafficking led by U.S. One additional defendant faces state money laundering charges in DuPage County. CHICAGO - Thirty-one defendants face federal money laundering charges for their roles in a conspiracy that allegedly laundered more than $100 million in drug proceeds for the Mexico-based Sinaloa Cartel by purchasing gold, reselling it to companies in Florida and California, then transmitting the money from the United States to Mexico.
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