BOSTON (WWLP) – A business owner in Colombia was sentenced to prison in Massachusetts for laundering drug trafficking proceeds from around the world.
In October 2016 law enforcement began an investigation into money laundering in Barranquilla, Colombia. During the undercover operation, it was discovered that $6 million in drug proceeds was laundered through banks in the United States, including Massachusetts, as well as banks in the Caribbean and Europe through the Colombian Black Market Peso Exchange (BMPE).
According to the Department of Justice in Boston, an undercover investigator who portrayed himself as an international money launderer picked up bulk cash throughout the world, laundered the proceeds through United States-based accounts and sent the money to Colombia through the BMPE.
The investigation concluded in 2022 when a total of 19 people from Colombia, Jamaica, and Florida were arrested for their alleged involvement in the sophisticated international money laundering organization. Police seized $1 million from corporate bank accounts and through other investigative activity. Nearly 3,000 kilograms of cocaine worth over $90 million was allegedly traced back to the money laundering organization.