Drug money launderer gets 78 months in prison

SAN DIEGO (CNS) - A Tijuana man was sentenced today in federal court in San Diego to 6 1/2 years in prison for his role as a leader of an international underworld organization that laundered more than $19 million in narcotics proceeds.

Manuel Reynoso Garcia, 64, was the last of eight defendants sent to prison as a result of a multi-year investigation led by the FBI Cross Border Violence Task Force, which targeted him as one of the key leaders of the Tijuana- and San Diego-based money laundering group.

According to a plea agreement and other public records, the criminal organization was composed of a network of co-conspirators who coordinated the pickup, deposit, laundering and transfer of millions of dollars of narcotics proceeds to Mexico-based drug-trafficking organizations, including the Sinaloa Cartel.

In a bid to avoid law enforcement detection, the gang used sophisticated methods, such as encrypted messaging applications, and employed shell corporations intended to disguise their criminal activity as legitimate

business, according to prosecutors.

The organization recruited people – primarily Tijuana university students aged 18 to 23 – to serve as "funnel account" holders, transporting them to bank branches in San Diego to open personal accounts, court documents state.

Other members of the money laundering organization, known as "couriers," traveled to San Diego, Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, Los Angeles, New Jersey, New York, Philadelphia and other U.S. cities to pick up and transport large deliveries of narcotics proceeds in cash – amounts ranging from $150,000 to $600,000, according to federal authorities.

Couriers often met associates in private homes or public places such as stores, hotel rooms or parking lots. The cash was typically concealed in shopping bags, duffel bags or shoeboxes.

Once in possession of the bulk cash, the couriers deposited it in increments of $30,000 to $45,000 into the bank accounts controlled by the money laundering organization.

The funds were then wire-transferred to a series of Mexico-based shell companies also controlled by the money laundering organization. Once in Mexico, the proceeds were transferred to representatives of the Sinaloa Cartel.

During the investigation, federal agents employed extensive surveillance, undercover operations, witness interviews and bank-record

analysis to collect evidence against the organization. Key operations included the surveillance of members of the organization as they picked up drug profits in amounts as large as $200,000 in Cincinnati, New York and San Diego.

The FBI also seized a large amount of money from one of Garcia's fellow defendants in Chula Vista, and confiscated more drug proceeds following the surveillance of a bulk-cash delivery at a McDonald's parking lot in Bonita.

"By tracking and seizing drug money, we are hitting the cartels where it hurts," said San Diego-area U.S. Attorney Robert Brewer. "Our aim is to prevent drug-related violence and overdoses, and denying the cartels the fruits of their illegal labor is an important part of our legal playbook."