{"id":77821,"date":"2026-09-07T06:24:46","date_gmt":"2026-09-07T06:24:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/doj-nails-cartel-intermediary-in-4m-crypto-money-laundering-scheme\/"},"modified":"2026-09-07T06:24:46","modified_gmt":"2026-09-07T06:24:46","slug":"doj-nails-cartel-intermediary-in-4m-crypto-money-laundering-scheme","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/doj-nails-cartel-intermediary-in-4m-crypto-money-laundering-scheme\/","title":{"rendered":"DOJ Nails Cartel Intermediary in $4M Crypto Money Laundering Scheme"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><b>(Originally posted on : Bitcoin News )<\/b><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"@container mb-[25px] rounded-sm overflow-clip py-0.5 pr-0.5 pl-2.5 bg-success-100\">\n<div class=\"flex flex-col gap-m overflow-clip rounded-[6px] !bg-success-10 p-3 @[420px]:p-m\">\n<h2 class=\"m-0 flex items-center gap-s text-[19px] !text-[#1c1c1c] md:text-[20px]\"><svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"16\" height=\"10\" viewbox=\"0 0 16 10\" fill=\"none\" class=\"shrink-0 text-success-100\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><path d=\"M1 1.5h14\" stroke=\"currentColor\" stroke-width=\"2.5\" stroke-linecap=\"round\"\/><path d=\"M1 8.5h10\" stroke=\"currentColor\" stroke-width=\"2.5\" stroke-linecap=\"round\"\/><\/svg><span>Key Takeaways<\/span><\/h2>\n<ul class=\"m-0 flex list-none flex-col gap-m pl-0\">\n<li class=\"m-0 flex items-start gap-s !text-[#434248]\"><span class=\"mt-2 size-2 shrink-0 rounded-full bg-success-100\" aria-hidden=\"true\"\/><span class=\"text-body\">A cartel intermediary pleaded guilty to laundering $4M via crypto, facing up to 20 years in prison.<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"m-0 flex items-start gap-s !text-[#434248]\"><span class=\"mt-2 size-2 shrink-0 rounded-full bg-success-100\" aria-hidden=\"true\"\/><span class=\"text-body\">The broker exchanged crypto deposits for cross-border dollars, enabling cartels to bypass authorities.<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"m-0 flex items-start gap-s !text-[#434248]\"><span class=\"mt-2 size-2 shrink-0 rounded-full bg-success-100\" aria-hidden=\"true\"\/><span class=\"text-body\">This DOJ conviction advances a new task force initiative, escalating the US crackdown on crypto cartels.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h2>Mexican Drug Kingpin Admits Participation in $4 Million Crypto Money Laundering Scheme<\/h2>\n<p>A large intermediary that backed the Mexican cartel\u2019s money laundering activities between the U.S. and Mexico has been prosecuted.<\/p>\n<p>On Friday, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that Carlos \u00c9rick V\u00e1zquez Gonz\u00e1lez, a Mexican national, had <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/opa\/pr\/mexican-national-pleads-guilty-laundering-more-19m-drug-trafficking-proceeds\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pleaded guilty to money laundering crimes<\/a> from the proceeds of drug trafficking activities after <a href=\"https:\/\/fgr.org.mx\/es\/FGR\/Nacional\/_rid\/61\/_mod\/story?p=1&amp;ord=desc&amp;f=0&amp;categoria=Nacional&amp;suri=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.FGR.swb%23fgr_Boletin%3A21902\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">being extradited<\/a> from Mexico in October.<\/p>\n<p>The DOJ revealed that V\u00e1zquez Gonz\u00e1lez was a key intermediary for unidentified money brokers, who deposited the proceeds from drug sales into a cryptocurrency wallet under his custody. V\u00e1zquez Gonz\u00e1lez moved these funds to launder the money, exchanging crypto assets for dollars in Mexico and returning them to the same money brokers, but on the other side of the border.<\/p>\n<p>While the press release failed to name the organization involved in these cash deliveries and pickups, reports <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jornada.com.mx\/2025\/10\/21\/politica\/018n2pol\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">link him with the Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generaci\u00f3n (CJNG) criminal organization<\/a>, led by Nemesio Rub\u00e9n Oseguera Cervantes, AKA \u201cEl Mencho,\u201d who was killed in a joint operation in February.<\/p>\n<p>V\u00e1zquez Gonz\u00e1lez received deposits of approximately $4 million from these brokers and accepted a $40K commission for his participation in the scheme.<\/p>\n<p>As he pleaded guilty, V\u00e1zquez Gonz\u00e1lez faces up to 20 years in prison, and his sentence will be revealed on December 17.<\/p>\n<p>The DOJ stressed that this prosecution was part of the Homeland Security Task Force initiative established by President Trump\u2019s <strong>\u201cProtecting the American People Against Invasion\u201d<\/strong> Executive Order, dedicated to <strong>\u201celiminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The prosecution and the guilty plea of V\u00e1zquez Gonz\u00e1lez come as the U.S. government has been pursuing the connection between cryptocurrency and criminal cartels.<\/p>\n<p>In May, the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) <a href=\"https:\/\/news.bitcoin.com\/us-sanctions-sinaloa-cartel-network-for-laundering-drug-profits-through-cryptocurrency\/\">sanctioned 12 individuals and two companies<\/a> that allegedly performed the same functions as V\u00e1zquez Gonz\u00e1lez, serving as financial money-laundering middlemen for the Sinaloa Cartel.<\/p>\n<p>In July, the DEA <a href=\"https:\/\/news.bitcoin.com\/dea-seizes-10-million-in-cryptocurrency-linked-to-the-sinaloa-cartel\/\">seized $10 million in cryptocurrency<\/a> derived from the Sinaloa Cartel\u2019s drug trafficking operations.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/news.bitcoin.com\/regulation-and-legal\/doj-nails-cartel-intermediary-in-4m-crypto-money-laundering-scheme\/\">Source link <\/a><br \/>\n<br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>(Originally posted on : Bitcoin News ) Key Takeaways A cartel intermediary pleaded guilty to laundering $4M via crypto, facing up to 20 years in prison. The broker exchanged crypto deposits for cross-border dollars, enabling cartels to bypass authorities. This DOJ conviction advances a new task force initiative, escalating the US crackdown on crypto cartels. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":77822,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77821"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=77821"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77821\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/77822"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77821"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77821"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77821"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}