The U.S. Treasury Department has sanctioned one Mexican resident and two Chinese residents suspected of laundering drug-trafficking proceeds for the Sinaloa cartel.
The Treasury Department identified Mexico-based Diego Acosta Ovalle and China-based Tong Peiji and He Jiaxuan as suspected cartel moneymen on July 1. The Treasury Department sanctioned the trio, in accordance with a December 2021 executive order, authorizing sanctions on suspected participants in the global illicit drug trade.
According to the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, Mr. Ovalle helped the Sinaloa Cartel collect and hide its drug-trafficking profits and moved those proceeds along to cartel associates.
The Treasury Department alleged that cartel associates worked with the two Chinese nationals, who were members of a U.S.-based Chinese money laundering organization (CMLO).
“In at least one instance, Tong Peiji traveled to Mexico to meet with Sinaloa Cartel members to obtain contracts to launder drug trafficking proceeds,” the Treasury Department said. “Tong Peiji also arranged to purchase cryptocurrency that could be provided to Sinaloa Cartel accounts. Tong Peiji and He Jiaxuan worked within the CMLO to deliver drug trafficking proceeds to individuals in need of U.S. currency.”
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California investigated the underlying trafficking allegations, along with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, the IRS–Criminal Investigations, Homeland Security Investigations, the FBI, and various local police departments in California.
The sanctions allow the U.S. government to seize any property or interests that three sanctioned individuals directly hold in the United States or that are under the control of a U.S.-based person. Any entities in which the three sanctioned individuals either directly or indirectly hold a 50 percent or higher stake are blocked. The Treasury sanctions also generally bar any transactions between U.S. persons and the sanctioned individuals and bar transactions occurring within the United States that involve these individuals.
“Combatting the threat posed by Money Laundering Organizations in China is a key priority of the Treasury Department, and today we are taking action to cut off the financial flows of major money launderers who are powering the trafficking of fentanyl and other illicit drugs to the United States,” Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo said on July 1.
The Chinese regime generally restricts those who live, work, or invest in China from transferring more than about $50,000 worth of their money out of the country. Prosecutors allege that Chinese underground banking networks act as brokers by operating bank accounts inside and outside of China. These brokers agree to take funds in China from Chinese clientele and, in turn, release equivalent funds from their accounts outside of China on behalf of those Chinese clients, allowing those Chinese clients to circumvent the Chinese laws on foreign money transfers.
The cartels supply the brokers with U.S. dollars they obtained in their illicit trade, a source of funds outside of China that can satisfy the needs of the broker’s clients within China. These brokers provide a use for cartel dollars that conceals their illicit origins while providing the cartels with credit they can more readily use.
The U.S. government is increasingly pointing to China as a facilitator of drug-trafficking networks operating across the U.S.–Mexico border.
