Eleven people from several states have been charged in an international money laundering and drug trafficking conspiracy.
The people from Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York and California were charged for “their alleged involvement in a sophisticated international money laundering and drug trafficking organization involving cocaine and MDMA (ecstasy),” an Oct. 13 Department of Justice news release said.
“We allege that this group of individuals conspired to sell deadly narcotics in Massachusetts communities then laundered millions of dollars’ worth of their drug proceeds through a global network to conceal their illegal activity,” U.S. Attorney Rachael Rollins said in the release. “Thanks to the incredible collaboration between federal, state and local law enforcement, this alleged large-scale criminal enterprise has been stopped in its tracks.”
Five were arrested Oct. 13 in Massachusetts and Rhode Island and were to appear in federal court in Boston later that day, according to the release. Three were arrested in Brooklyn, N.Y., and were scheduled to appear Oct. 13 in the Eastern District of New York. Three are fugitives.
The Oct. 13 arrests by FBI Boston’s Organized Crime Task Force “disrupted a sophisticated transnational criminal organization” that allegedly trafficked kilos of cocaine and laundered at least $25 million in illicit proceeds from illegal businesses, Joseph Bonavolonta, special agent in charge of the FBI Boston Division, said in the release.
“Now, these individuals know the FBI is just as committed to eradicating organized crime as this group was to allegedly embracing it,” Bonavolonta said, according to the release. “This investigation should be a warning to others engaged in similar conduct: we will infiltrate your network, shut you down and bring you to justice, no matter where you are.”
The lifeblood of drug trafficking is money and people who launder money “directly contribute to the ongoing drug crisis,” Rollins said in the release.
“Dirty money always leaves a trace, and no amount of laundering – whether through financial institutions or digital currency exchanges – will allow perpetrators to evade detection by law enforcement. That is a promise,” Rollins said, according to the release.
