News
Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 29, 2003
Statement
From DEA Administrator Karen P. Tandy on Operation Double Trouble
AUG
29 -- Today, along with Southern District of Florida United States
Attorney Marcos Daniel Jimenez, we are announcing the culmination of a
four-year, international, drug and money laundering investigation named
Operation Double Trouble. This operation successfully targeted and disrupted
key Colombian drug and money brokers who operated between the United States
and Colombia. Over the past three days, United States and Colombian law
enforcement personnel in a coordinated enforcement effort have arrested
28 individuals and seized a total of 36 bank accounts from 11 Colombian
banks.
Double Trouble began
in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in 1999 and expanded to five states and two
continents. This was an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF)
investigation conducted by DEA, the Internal Revenue Service, and the
Department of Justice, along with state and local law enforcement agencies
and U.S Attorney's Offices in Florida, New York, Connecticut, Illinois,
California, and Puerto Rico. In addition to the arrests and seizures that
have taken place this week, this operation is also responsible for the
seizure of over $12.8 million, 353 kilograms of cocaine, 21 kilograms
of heroin, and the arrest of 27 drug traffickers and money brokers.
The
initial target was Ivan Henao, who was arrested yesterday in South Florida
by DEA agents, and his Colombia-based money laundering and cocaine trafficking
organization. The Henao Organization was one of 53 criminal organizations
designated by the Attorney General as a Consolidated Priority Organization
Target (CPOT). CPOT is a list of the "World's Most Wanted" drug
and money laundering enterprises responsible for the most significant
supply of drugs to the United States.
Henao was well-known
among Colombian drug trafficking cells operating in the United States
as a drug money broker. At least 18 drug distribution cells throughout
the United States were using Henao's money laundering services. The investigation
documented that, from June 1999 to the present, the Henao Organization
laundered at least $30 million in drug proceeds using a money laundering
system known as the Black Market Peso Exchange (BMPE). The BMPE is the
largest known drug money laundering system existing in the Western Hemisphere
and is responsible for converting the bulk of the drug currency that leaves
the United States for Colombia. The system enables Colombian drug cartels
to exchange their U.S. drug dollars with Colombian money brokers who pay
them in pesos in Colombia. Additionally, this organization used a number
of small businesses in both countries to launder their ill-gotten gains.
Double Trouble signals
a reenergized effort by DEA to attack the financial infrastructure of
drug cartels. We are focusing on drug trafficking organizations as if
they are Fortune 500 companies, which must be eliminated as single business
entities from top to bottom, from the boardroom and purse strings, to
the street corner.
This operation would
not have been a success without the cooperation of our law enforcement
partners in the United States and in Colombia, along with various U.S.
Attorney's Offices across the country and the Criminal Division of the
Department of Justice. Drug trafficking is an international effort. Drug
enforcement must be as well.
In conclusion, I
would like to thank the following agencies who participated in this important
operation:
Federal, State
and Local Partners
- Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation
- U.S. Attorney's Office - Southern District of Florida
- U.S. Attorney's Office - Central District of California
- U.S. Attorney's Office - Northern District of Illinois
- U.S. Attorney's Office - Eastern District of New York
- U.S. Attorney's Office - Southern District of New York
- U.S. Attorney's Office - District of New Jersey
- U.S. Attorney's Office - District of Connecticut
- U.S. Attorney's Office - District of Puerto Rico
- U.S. Attorney's Office - U.S. Virgin Island District
- U.S. Department of Justice - Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering
Section
- U.S. Department of Justice - Office of International Affairs
- Sunrise Police Department
- Fort Lauderdale Police Department
- Broward County Sheriff's Department
- Davie Police Department
- Coral Springs Police Department
- Plantation Police Department
- Hollywood Police Department
- Florida Department of Law Enforcement
- New York City, New York Police Department
- Nassau County Police Department
- New York, Manhattan District Attorney's Office
- Office of Special Narcotics, City of New York
International Law Enforcement Partners
- The Department de Seguridad (DAS) in Colombia
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