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The Justice Department said it closely coordinated with law
enforcement in Mexico and China and that those countries
recently arrested fugitives named in a superseding indictment,
which was unsealed on Monday, who fled the U.S. after they were
initially charged last year.
WHY IT IS IMPORTANT
The United States has been seeking increased cooperation from
both Mexico and China in curbing the flow of illegal drugs,
which result in a large number of U.S. overdose deaths each
year. Washington and Beijing have sought cooperation amid
otherwise tense bilateral ties.
The Sinaloa Cartel, one of Mexico's most powerful criminal
organizations, has also been the target of U.S. sanctions.
KEY QUOTES
The Justice Department announced a 10-count superseding
indictment charging Los Angeles-based associates of the Sinaloa
Cartel, following a "multi-year investigation."
“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. Laundering drug
money gives the Sinaloa Cartel the means to produce and import
their deadly poison into the United States," Martin Estrada,
U.S. attorney for the Central District of California, said in a
statement.
The superseding indictment charged a total of 24 defendants with
"one count of conspiracy to aid and abet the distribution of
cocaine and methamphetamine, one count of conspiracy to launder
monetary instruments, and one count of conspiracy to operate an
unlicensed money transmitting business."
CONTEXT
The Justice Department alleged that a Sinaloa Cartel-linked
money laundering network collected and processed - with help
from a California-based money transmitting group with links to
Chinese underground banking - large amounts of drug proceeds in
U.S. currency in the Los Angeles area.
They then allegedly concealed their drug trafficking proceeds
and made the proceeds generated in the U.S. accessible to cartel
members in Mexico and elsewhere, according to the Justice
Department.
Law enforcement also seized $5 million in narcotics proceeds,
302 pounds of cocaine, 92 pounds of methamphetamine, 3,000
ecstasy pills, three semi-automatic rifles with high-capacity
magazines, and eight semi-automatic handguns.
WHAT'S NEXT
Twenty of the individuals charged in the superseding indictment
are expected to be arraigned in the U.S. District Court in Los
Angeles in the coming weeks. One was arraigned on Monday.
(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Leslie
Adler)
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