Colombian sentenced concerning $6 million Massachusetts, Florida, drug money laundering organization; $90 million of cocaine seized

BOSTON – A Colombian man was sentenced in federal court in Boston for his role in a sophisticated international money laundering organization that funneled over $6 million in drug trafficking proceeds from Colombian cartels through U.S., Caribbean, and European banking systems.

According to the Massachusetts Department of Justice, on December 11, 2024, 62-year-old Jaime Humberto Mejia-Bencardino pleaded guilty to one count of money laundering conspiracy and 16 counts of laundering monetary instruments, receiving a 115-month prison sentence from U.S. District Court Judge Richard Stearns. Extradited to the U.S. to face these charges, he faces deportation upon completing his sentence.

Indicted in May 2022 with 20 others from Colombia, Jamaica, and Florida, the defendant was part of a conspiracy investigated since October 2016. The organization laundered over $6 million in drug proceeds, primarily through the Colombian Black Market Peso Exchange (BMPE), using intermediary banks in the U.S., including Massachusetts, as well as Caribbean and European banks. The BMPE concealed drug trafficking proceeds and evaded U.S. and Colombian currency exchange regulations. Roles within the conspiracy included drug suppliers, peso brokers, money couriers, and business owners purchasing dollars.

Using the BMPE, Colombian drug cartels exchanged U.S. drug proceeds for Colombian pesos via peso brokers. These brokers used couriers to collect cash, often in suitcases, and deposited it into U.S. bank accounts disguised as legitimate business activity or spread across multiple accounts to avoid detection. The funds were then consolidated and sold to Colombian buyers seeking favorable exchange rates while bypassing reporting requirements. The proceeds were transferred to accounts appearing unlinked to drug trafficking.

From 2016 to 2022, an undercover agent posed as an international money launderer, infiltrating the organization. The agent collected bulk cash globally, laundered it through U.S. accounts, and sent it to Colombia via the BMPE. The defendant, acting as a money broker, negotiated contracts to collect drug proceeds worldwide and directed their transfer to conceal their origins, personally laundering over $1.95 million.

The investigation seized $1 million from corporate bank accounts and traced nearly 3,000 kilograms of cocaine, worth over $90 million, to the organization, including 1,193 kilograms seized off Jamaica in July 2019 and 1,555 kilograms in Colombia in March 2019. The defendant is the 11th of 20 to be sentenced, with all but one convicted.

U.S. Attorney Leah B. Foley, DEA Acting Special Agent in Charge Stephen Belleau, IRS-CI Acting Special Agent in Charge Thomas Demeo, Colombian Attorney General’s Office Delegate Aura Liliana Trujillo Rojas, Colombian National Police Brigadier General Ricardo Sánchez Silvestre, Jamaica Constabulary Force’s Jervis Moore, and Massachusetts State Police Colonel Geoffrey Noble announced the case. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs and the Criminal Division’s Judicial Attaché in Bogotá assisted with arrests and extraditions. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jared C. Dolan and Alathea E. Porter are prosecuting.

This case is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces operation targeting high-level criminal organizations.

The remaining defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty in court.