US announces major bust as efforts to crack down on Chinese money launderers working with drug cartels ratchet up

US prosecutors on Tuesday touted a major breakthrough in a crackdown against Chinese money laundering networks they say are working with Mexican drug cartels, announcing charges against 24 people for allegedly taking part in a scheme to launder more than $50 million in drugs.

US prosecutors on Tuesday touted a major breakthrough in a crackdown against Chinese money laundering networks they say are working with Mexican drug cartels, announcing charges against 24 people for allegedly taking part in a scheme to launder more than $50 million in drugs. It’s one of the biggest busts yet as federal agencies step up efforts to target the highest levels of Chinese money laundering rings that experts and officials tell CNN are the go-to partners for Mexico’s most dangerous drug cartels that traffic fentanyl, cocaine and methamphetamine into the US.  Two “fugitives” named in the indictment unsealed in California have been arrested — one by the Chinese government and the other by the Mexican government, the Drug Enforcement Administration said. It’s a rare breakthrough for US law enforcement collaboration with China and Mexico, which have often bristled at US overtures to crack down on drug trafficking. The criminal network allegedly includes an array of Chinese, Mexican and American men who allegedly worked as couriers, money brokers and traffickers in an elaborate scheme to pick up big amounts of cash from the sale of cocaine and methamphetamine in the Los Angeles area and launder the money for the Sinaloa Cartel. Ten thousand fake fentanyl pills were also seized in the operation, according to the DEA. “These Chinese criminal money laundering networks can move money faster, cheaper and at a fraction of what is usually charged,” DEA Administrator Anne Milgram said at a press conference hosted by the US Court for the Central District of California, which includes Los Angeles. Other recently unsealed federal indictments reveal an intense effort by DEA, IRS and other agencies to investigate and surveil alleged Chinese money launderers in more than a dozen states — the product of years of investigative work. And interviews with current and former US officials offer glimpses into the tactics used to identify and infiltrate the financial networks supporting the vastly lucrative drug trade into the US.