Mexican Man Sentenced to Over Eight Years in Prison for Using Crypto To Launder $5,500,000 in Illicit Drug Money

A Mexican national has been sentenced to eight years and four months in prison as a major player in a drug money laundering conspiracy that used crypto.

According to a new U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) press release, Jose “Meno” Martinez of Guadalajara, Mexico, helped drug traffickers launder money in Mexico.

Martinez laundered $5.5 million in drug money, transferring the funds to Mexico via crypto while keeping a percentage fee for himself.

As a result of Martinez’s dealings, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has seized $1.35 million in bulk US currency, in addition to “approximately 3 kilograms of fentanyl, 52.77 kilograms of cocaine, 7,078.63 kilograms of unconverted methamphetamine in the form of charcoal lumps, 170 gallons of unconverted methamphetamine in the form of coconut oil, 140 kilograms of methamphetamine and 15 gallons of liquid methamphetamine.”

Earlier this week, the DOJ also announced that two Florida men are facing the possibility of multiple decades in prison after allegedly masterminding a fraudulent scheme to steal over $100 million from a nonprofit organization set up to manage funds for people with special needs and disabilities.

The DOJ alleges that Leo Joseph Govoni, John Leo Witeck and one unnamed co-conspirator purloined the Center for Special Needs Trust Administration client-beneficiary funds and concealed their embezzlement through complex financial transactions, allegedly sending fraudulent account statements with false balances to their disabled clients.

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