Drug Cartel Member Arrested for Money Laundering

Police of Spain arrested a Colombian drug trafficker who was allegedly using cryptocurrency to expedite his operations.

The Spanish police partnered with Dutch law enforcement for at least two years on gathering all the necessary intelligence essential to capture the alleged criminal in Malaga.

Although Spanish police have yet to identify the man, they claimed that he was a member of the Colombian Cali Cartel, the largest cocaine trafficking situation in the world. As the cartel imploded following its leaders’ arrests and extraditions to the US, the man started a new life in Europe.

However, police say that he didn’t give up drug trafficking, but instead moved from being a “direct intermediary” to a money launderer, making a cryptocurrency trading company as a cover.

The suspect, described as a “prominent Dutch drug trafficker of Colombian origin,” helped launder more than 6M Euros’ worth of cryptocurrencies, it is a large figure for some people who aren’t facilitating the transfer of big drug shipments.

During a raid last weekend, Spanish police seized 85,000 euros in cash, a bank account, three cars, three luxury watches, 15 credit cards, laptops, and cellphones that he used for the illegal deed. Agents have also confiscated $170,000 in crypto, several crypto wallets, documents, and computers after breaking into his home in the Netherlands.

The Cali Cartel is known in Colombia for its competition against the infamous Medellin Cartel ruled by Paolo Escobar. During Escobar’s death, the Cali Cartel has been known to control 80% of the world’s cocaine market.

Some estimates say that in 1996, the Cali Cartel has generated about $7B in annual revenue only from the US. To launder the money, the Cali Cartel had a complex structure of more than 50 businesses. When the authorities captured the ringleaders in 2006, they paid $2.1B forfeiture.

Then again, considering the modus operandi of this mysterious man who is believed to have helped set up the complex criminal structure, maybe Interpol is relieved that the privacy coins like Monero didn’t come about until many decades after Cali Cartel peaked.