Chen, Tan face decades in prison if found guilty of aiding Sinaloa, Jalisco Cartels at ‘Heart’ of U.S. ‘Fentanyl Crisis,’ DOJ officials charge
Generic fentanyl images courtesy of DEA.
ILLINOIS AND GEORGIA — A second suspect living in the U.S. was arrested today in a fentanyl money laundering conspiracy case involving two major Mexican drug cartels, officials say.
Chaojie Chen, who was living in Chicago, was arrested in April, and Li Pei Tan of Buford, Georgia, which is about an hour northeast of Atlanta, was arrested today.
Chen, 41, and Tan, 46, each face up to 20 years if convicted of scheming to launder millions of dollars made from drugs imported and distributed in the United States, officials charge.
Chen and Tan allegedly traveled the U.S. to collect money made from trafficking fentanyl and other drugs and are also accused of working with people in China and other foreign countries to “conceal” the “financial transactions.”
They allegedly worked for a money laundering organization that helped the Sinaloa and Jalisco cartels, which DEA officials and others say are at the “heart” of the U.S. fentanyl crisis.
