L.A. is 'epicenter' of [Mexican] cartel money laundering, U.S. official says

Article subtitle: 
Federal agents seize an estimated $65 million ... part of a widespread attempt by Mexican drug cartels to launder narcotics profits
Article author: 
Victoria Kim and Joe Mozingo
Article publisher: 
The Los Angeles Times
Article date: 
10 September 2014
Article category: 
National News
Tags: 
cartels
FBI
ICE
sanctuary cities
Article link: 
Excerpts are included below - read the original complete article
Medium
Article Body: 

Federal agents launched a series of raids in the downtown Los Angeles fashion district on Wednesday and seized an estimated $65 million in cash and other assets they allege were part of a widespread attempt by Mexican drug cartels to launder narcotics profits.

Nine people were arrested in raids targeting 70 locations, many of them businesses in the fashion district ...
Agents with the FBI and Immigration and Customs Enforcement infiltrated several peso brokerages operating in Los Angeles, officials said ...

Operations that launder drug money through legitimate trade have soared since Mexico restricted the use of American dollars in 2010, forcing the cartels to convert their dollars to pesos ...

In the most harrowing scheme detailed in the three indictments released Wednesday the Sinaloa cartel allegedly directed ransom money to be delivered to Q.T. Fashion Inc., a maternity apparel wholesaler on East 12th Street.

The ransom involved a drug distributor who had fallen into debt to the cartel when U.S. agents intercepted a shipment of 100 kilograms of cocaine he was responsible for. He was allegedly kidnapped and tortured at a ranch in Sinaloa until he could pay off the debt. His family and friends delivered at least $140,000 in bulk cash to the Los Angeles business ...

Article final link: 
The above article contains excerpts - we encourage you to read the complete original article
The CAIRCO Report
Advocating for the rights of future generations of Americans.
Our primary focus includes issues of Western Civilization, American sovereignty, sustainability,
and the environmental and societal consequences of unending immigration-driven population growth.
This website is a project of Colorado Alliance for Immigration Reform (CAIRCO) - founded in the mid 1990s.
Copyright 1995-2024 Colorado Alliance for Immigration Reform
Fair Use: This site contains copyrighted material, the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of issues related to mass immigration and the transformation of America. We believe this constitutes a "fair use" of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information, see: https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/107, https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/108, https://www.law.cornell.edu/treaties/berne/10.html, and https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/fair_use. In order to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond "fair use", you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.