A Mexican national has pleaded guilty in the United States to laundering drug-trafficking proceeds through cryptocurrency, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Authorities said Carlos Érick Vázquez González was extradited from Mexico in October and admitted to his role in moving funds tied to money brokers operating across the U.S.-Mexico border.

The DOJ said Vázquez González handled roughly $4 million in deposits and earned a $40,000 commission for participating in the scheme. He now faces a possible prison sentence of up to 20 years, with sentencing scheduled for Dec. 17.

How prosecutors say the scheme worked

According to the DOJ, Vázquez González acted as an intermediary for unidentified money brokers who were handling proceeds from drug sales. Those brokers allegedly placed the funds into a cryptocurrency wallet under his control.

Federal prosecutors said he then moved the assets in order to launder the money, converting cryptocurrency into dollars in Mexico and returning the cash to the same brokers on the Mexican side of the border. The department described him as a significant link in the transfer of criminal proceeds between the two countries.

Amounts involved and unresolved attribution

The Justice Department said the brokers deposited about $4 million with Vázquez González. In exchange for his role, he allegedly received a commission of around $40,000.

The DOJ announcement did not identify the organization connected to the cash pickups and deliveries. Separate reports, however, have linked the case to Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación, or CJNG. That attribution was not confirmed in the department's release, and the source article noted reports identifying the group’s leader as Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, also known as El Mencho.

Part of a broader federal crackdown

The department said the case forms part of the Homeland Security Task Force initiative created under President Donald Trump's executive order titled Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The stated aim of that effort is to target criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking networks.

The guilty plea also comes amid a wider U.S. focus on the use of cryptocurrency in cartel finance. In May, the Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned 12 people and two companies that it said acted as money-laundering intermediaries for the Sinaloa Cartel. In July, the DEA seized $10 million in cryptocurrency that authorities said came from Sinaloa Cartel drug-trafficking operations.

What comes next

With the guilty plea entered, the next confirmed step in the case is sentencing. Vázquez González is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 17, when a court will determine the penalty within the statutory framework prosecutors cited.

For now, the confirmed facts from the DOJ are that he admitted laundering drug-trafficking proceeds, that the transfers involved about $4 million moved through cryptocurrency, and that he could face as much as 20 years in prison.

Source: news.bitcoin.com