CALIFORNIA – Mexico City-based attorney Hector Alejandro Paez Garcia admitted, in federal court, to conspiring to launder millions of dollars in drug trafficking proceeds from the U.S. to Mexico.
Paez’s plea stems from an FBI probe into a Mexico-based money laundering organization (MLO). It allegedly laundered $52.7 million for the Sinaloa Cartel before its leaders’ arrest.
Court documents reveal the MLO used Southern California shell companies to launder millions in cash from the Sinaloa Cartel’s drug trade. Employees collected cash – sometimes up to $200,000, from cities nationwide.
The MLO funneled cash through these companies to accounts in Mexico managed by Paez, who admitted to a leadership role in the operation.
Paez started using cryptocurrency to shield assets from law enforcement
During the investigation, FBI agents seized 66 money laundering bank accounts throughout the United States.
As the FBI began to target and seize the MLO’s assets, Paez turned to the use of cryptocurrency in an attempt to shield those assets from law enforcement.
However, the FBI was able to infiltrate and take down the MLO’s cryptocurrency laundering network.
To date, the investigation has resulted in the arrests of 11 people on money laundering charges and the seizure of more than $3.1 million in illicit assets.
A related DEA investigation led to 24 additional arrests and asset seizures totaling $450,000.
Paez is scheduled to be sentenced on August 15, 2025.
An alleged leader of the MLO remains a fugitive
Along with Paez, the DOJ charged six others for laundering millions using cash couriers, crypto, and shell companies for the Mexico-based money laundering group.
Alberto David Benguait Jimenez, an alleged leader of the MLO, remains a fugitive at this time.
This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a DOJ initiative targeting illegal immigration, cartels, and violent crime. It coordinates resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).
