Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and Treasury Department officials this week warned members of Congress about the growing threat from Chinese money laundering.
At a hearing on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, U.S. senators discussed the amount of money coming into the U.S. through illicit means linked to China and how that money leaves Mexico for illegal drugs such as fentanyl. I heard repeated warnings about how they were being funded.
Kemp Chester, director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, told lawmakers that “criminals based in the People’s Republic of China serve as professional money launderers for Mexican drug traffickers looking to move money around the world. It’s emerging,” he said.
China’s money laundering rings have grown in recent years, authorities say, and new technology allows criminals to wash dirty money and clean it within minutes. On Tuesday, DEA and Treasury officials testified that the opioid supply chain is partially funded by money laundering operations originating from China.
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The initials of the drug cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG) are graffitied on a wall in Lagos de Moreno, Mexico, on August 29, 2023. (Ulices Ruiz/AFP via Getty Images)
“The relationship between Chinese money laundering organizations and Mexican cartels provides them with access to established money laundering networks operating in most metropolitan areas of the United States,” said William Kimbell, director of operations for the DEA. “
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The Department of Justice recently announced an bust involving a Chinese money laundering organization that received nearly $100 million in drug proceeds from Mexican drug trafficking organizations.
Mexican Marines escort five suspected Zetas drug traffickers in front of seized weapons and drugs in Mexico City, June 9, 2011. (Yuri Cortes/AFP via Getty Images)
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In March, a grand jury indicted En-Hoa Huang, a North Carolina woman who was hiding in Utah. According to court documents, Huang would receive requests from Mexican drug lords to receive large amounts of cash in the United States.
In 2011, an illegal drug smuggler is processed inside a prison in Nogales, Mexico. (Alpeyrie/ullstein bild via Getty Images)
“For every gram of fentanyl sold in America, for every dollar of illegal fentanyl sold in America, there is a chemical supply chain. We have to make sure that they don’t come back to the United States or other transnational criminals,” Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse said on Tuesday.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen visited China in March and raised the issue of money laundering with Chinese officials. Yellen and her team continue to participate in U.S. working groups to learn more about how to combat this problem.
