Two members of transnational money laundering organization plead guilty to laundering millions of dollars in drug proceeds

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – A Georgia man pled guilty today to his involvement in a conspiracy to launder tens of millions of dollars in drug proceeds on behalf of foreign drug trafficking organizations, including the Sinaloa cartel and Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (the Jalisco cartel). On Aug. 5, a co-conspirator pled guilty for his role in the same money laundering scheme.

According to court documents, Li Pei Tan, 46, of Buford, and Chaojie Chen, 41, a Chinese national residing in Chicago, worked for an organization that laundered millions of dollars in proceeds related to the importation of illegal drugs into the United States, primarily through Mexico, and the unlawful distribution of these drugs. Tan, Chen, and their co-conspirators traveled throughout the United States to collect proceeds derived from trafficking in fentanyl, cocaine, and other drugs. They communicated and coordinated with co-conspirators in China and other foreign countries to arrange for the laundering of these proceeds through financial transactions that were designed to conceal the illicit source of the drug proceeds, including through a sophisticated trade-based money laundering scheme involving the purchasing of bulk electronics in the United States and the shipping of these electronics to co-conspirators in China.

On multiple occasions prior to Chen’s May arrest, law enforcement seized hundreds of thousands of dollars in bulk cash drug proceeds from Chen at locations across the United States. Tan was intercepted by law enforcement in South Carolina while attempting to transport over $197,000 in drug proceeds.

According to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)’s National Drug Threat Assessment, the Sinaloa and Jalisco cartels are at the heart of the fentanyl crisis in the United States.

Tan and Chen pled guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering. As part of their pleas, Tan and Chen agreed to forfeit numerous assets to the government, including a residence, a firearm, body armor, and more than $270,000 in seized currency. Additionally, they agreed to the imposition of money judgments totaling over $23 million. Chen is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 14 and Tan is scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 7, 2025. Chen and Tan each face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

U.S. Attorney Jessica D. Aber for the Eastern District of Virginia; Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; and DEA Administrator Anne Milgram made the announcement.

The DEA’s Special Operations Division, Bilateral Investigations Unit, investigated the case, with assistance from the DEA’s Office of Special Intelligence, Document and Media Exploitation Unit; the DEA’s offices in Chicago, Atlanta, Charlotte, North Carolina, and Charleston, South Carolina; and the Anderson County, South Carolina, Sheriff’s Office.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Edgardo J. Rodriguez for the Eastern District of Virginia and Trial Attorney Mary K. Daly of the Criminal Division’s Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section prosecuted the case, with assistance from the U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the Northern District of Georgia and Northern District of Illinois.

This effort is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at www.justice.gov/OCDETF.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information are located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case Nos. 24-CR-145 (Tan) and 24-CR-149 (Chen).