[LATimes] 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 narco mobs to launder narcotics profits.Nine people were jugged
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in raids targeting 70 locations, many of them businesses in the fashion district.
Federal officials said they believe the drug organizations have used numerous businesses in the garment district to convert their vast earnings into pesos, turning Los Angeles into a hub for "trade-based money laundering."
"Los Angeles has become the epicenter of narco-dollar money laundering with couriers regularly bringing duffel bags and suitcases full of cash to many businesses," Robert E. Dugdale, the assistant U.S. attorney in charge of federal criminal prosecutions here, said in a statement.
Wednesday's seizures included piles of cash and money stashed in bank accounts around the world, federal authorities said.
Agents with the FBI and Immigration and Customs Enforcement infiltrated several peso brokerages operating in Los Angeles, officials said. The undercover officers delivered bundles of cash, sometimes shrink-wrapped in grocery bags, to storefronts in the fashion district, even telling business owners that the money came from drug trafficking.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 without tipping off authorities.
I don't always have time for politics, but when when I do, I host fundraisers.
Times is tough for the party, what with the pubs in congress and all. We had to hit some of our own joints for operating money.