Mica for cartelinsider.com
Over the past few years, the United States has managed to identify part of the scheme used by Mexico’s main criminal organizations to launder the illicit profits obtained from drug trafficking. For example, it has been proven that the Sinaloa Cartel uses various commercial fronts to hide their money and go unnoticed by authorities: from gas stations, cattle companies, and a kindergarten, to a resort and a gold purchasing business. Here, we will explain how the latter functioned.
According to an investigation by the United States Department of Justice, the business was carried out while Joaquín ‘El Chapo’ Guzmán was in charge of the criminal organization along with Ismael ‘El Mayo’ Zambada. It was discovered in 2011 and, to this date, it is one of the most luxurious that the Sinaloa Cartel has used to move its profits to Mexico.
The money laundering scheme was led by Diego Pineda Sánchez, also known as ‘El Botas’, and Carlos Parra Pedroza, ‘El Walter’, who used the profits from the sale of drugs by the Sinaloa Cartel in the United States to buy gold in pawn shops.
Judicial records state that, once gold was purchased, the criminals would send it to companies in Florida and California, who would ultimately melt it down.
Being considered a legitimate business, the refineries paid the cash value without arousing suspicions from the authorities and this was ultimately sent back to a Mexican company linked to the Sinaloa Cartel.
However, according to court records accessed by Bloomberg, authorities identified that the Florida-based company with which Pineda Sánchez and Parra Pedroza stayed with 1% of the profits as part of the agreement. The company also worked for the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG).
In February 2011, the Northern District of Illinois, Chicago, announced charges against 31 individuals for money laundering after being linked to the gold business of the Sinaloa Cartel.
The complaint alleges that Pineda Sánchez, Parra Pedroza, and 29 associates laundered over 100 million dollars in drug profits since 2011 for the Sinaloa Cartel. The money laundering activities (…) spread throughout the United States, including: Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Georgia, California, Texas, and North Carolina, reads the accusation.
By 2014, the investigation was already yielding its first victories. The first one occurred in January, when authorities raided the office of the firm located in Miami, Florida, and found hundreds of boxes filled with gold from the Sinaloa Cartel.
Eight months later, DEA agents managed to arrest ‘El Botas’ and ‘El Walter’, while both were returning from Guadalajara to the United States.
Pineda Sánchez was found guilty of laundering over 61 million dollars in drug proceeds in 2018, and was therefore sentenced to 15 years in prison.
On the other hand, Parra Pedroza was only accused of laundering more than 100 million dollars, so he was sentenced to 5 years in prison.
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Mica
Email: mica@cartelinsider.com
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