NEW YORK, Dec. 5 (EFE).- A former US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agent was charged Friday in a New York federal court with conspiring to launder millions of dollars believed to have come from the Mexican drug cartel Jalisco Nueva Generation.
The accused, named Paul Campo (61 years old), worked for the Drug Enforcement Administration for approximately 25 years, first in New York, until he ended up as Deputy Director of the Office of Financial Operations, according to the accusation reported by the New York Times.
Campo and his associate Robert Sensi, 75, allegedly laundered about $750,000 of what was believed to be the cartel’s drug proceeds into cryptocurrency, agreeing to increase the amount of money laundering to $12 million.
Campo and Sensei thought they were dealing in the meetings, where they agreed what they would do, with a cartel member, but it was actually the DEA informant who gave them the money they would launder.
There is no indication that Campo or Sensi had contact with actual members of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel — which the United States has designated as a foreign terrorist organization — or that money used in the investigation went to the group, the Times highlighted.
According to the indictment, Campo and Sensi met with a DEA informant twice last March.
In the first case, in New York, the informant told them that the cartel had operations throughout the United States and that it needed a reliable way to move money from that country to Mexico. The second time was in Florida.
In those meetings, Campo told the alleged cartel member of the various ways he could launder that money, the product of drug trafficking, including real estate, prepaid cards and money smuggling, according to the indictment.
He also notes that during meetings with the informant, the defendant now agreed to evaluate the acquisition of commercial drones, weapons and military equipment for the cartel, including AR-15 and M16 rifles, M4 carbines, grenade launchers and rocket-propelled grenades.
Campo and Sensi were charged with various conspiracy charges: committing drug terrorism, distributing drugs, providing material support to a terrorist organization, and committing money laundering. Evie