JUSTICE NEWS

Department of Justice
Office of Public Affairs
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, June 29, 2020

Chinese National Guilty of Laundering Millions for Mexican Drug Cartels

A Chinese national pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to commit money laundering in connection with laundering more than $4 million in drug proceeds generated by large-scale cocaine trafficking in the United States.

Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department's Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney G. Zachary Terwilliger for the Eastern District of Virginia; Special Agent in Charge Wendy C. Woolcock of the Drug Enforcement Administration's (DEA) Special Operations Division and Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey T. Scott of the DEA Louisville Field Division; Jason Crosby, Chief of the Criminal Investigations Division of the U.S. Department of State's Diplomatic Security Service (DSS); and Special Agent in Charge James Gibbons of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Chicago, Illinois, made the announcement after U.S. District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema accepted the plea.

According to court documents, Xueyong Wu, 40, cultivated relationships with Latin American drug trafficking organizations to transport and launder their United States-based drug proceeds.  Wu is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 29.

Much of this money was repatriated to Mexico through a complex series of international financial transactions. Wu received a percentage of the money involved in these transactions as compensation for organizing these laundering activities.  Much of this money was generated through movement of cocaine or payment for cocaine that took place within the Eastern District of Virginia.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael P. Ben’Ary and David A. Peters, along with Trial Attorneys Steve Sola and Kerry Blackburn of the Criminal Division’s Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section are prosecuting the case.

The year 2020 marks the 150th anniversary of the Department of Justice.  Learn more about the history of our agency at www.Justice.gov/Celebrating150Years.

Topic(s): 
Drug Trafficking
Financial Fraud
Component(s): 
Criminal Division
Criminal - Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section
USAO - Virginia, Eastern
Press Release Number: 
20-602
Updated June 30, 2020