This content exposes the intricate and vast network of drug money laundering operations, detailing how illicit cash generated in the U.S. is moved, concealed, and ultimately integrated into the legitimate financial system by Mexican cartels.
Mind Map
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this company generated 10 million
dollars last year this one was five
million dollars per year three million
dollars this is another company so you
can imagine whatever you want in these
small rooms
these empty offices are a front for
paper companies that launder cartel Drug Money
from Trap houses Across America through
wholesalers Transporters and cartel
cells there's a billion dollar tide
funneling into Mexico
when it's moved you're talking Millions weekly
now U.S authorities are cracking down [Music]
[Music]
let's see you got a big stack of cash in
there what's up there but with this much
money at stake the cartels are finding
and smuggle
they could be a million dollars they're
dirty cash [Music]
hola chief
why not just okay okay
9pm Cancun Mexico
JC is on his way to pick up dirty
American Drug Money the proceeds of
hundreds of illicit drug deals back in
the States
the U.S generates over a hundred billion
dollars of drug sales a year
the cartels face two problems getting it
back to Mexico and banking it is
that's where JC comes in
to spend their profits the cartels must
launder all this dirty cash transforming
the proceeds of crime into legitimate profit
profit
JC is part of an army of workers whose
job it is to get cartel cash into the
banking system without revealing its Origins
Origins
so he's on call 24 7 to do the cartel's bidding
bidding [Music]
[Music] dollars
the ID cards were secretly photocopied
during legitimate transactions JC uses
them to make multiple currency exchanges
JC then picks up the newly swapped pesos
and passes them on to his cartel boss
mission accomplished the cash is now
laundered its origin erased is
but this cash began its Journey 3 000
one of the biggest Narco distribution
the windy City's railroad port and
Interstate Highway System make it the
ideal location of Distributing dope and
collecting cash from across the Midwest
and the south side is where a lot of the
business gets done
every deal is a drop in the bucket that
contributes to a mighty River of cash
handling the retail an army of local
another bag of crack sold
every day thousands of deals like this
make fortunes for the Mexican cartels
I'm 19 I've been doing this since I was
15 man you got to feed yourself because
ain't nobody else gonna be able to do it
we grew up with our mothers and fathers
around here so you feel you got to be
your own father figure get your own
money out here cause ain't nobody gonna
Skillet operates at the bottom of the
money supply chain
he and thousands like him generate dirty cash
cash
unusable in any quantity until it gets laundered
Skillet gets crack on credit and sells
after a long day of moving product back
in the Trap House the real work begins
splitting the take
first up the crew take their cut
between three of us we're gonna split a
400 profit off the ounce you know it
works out around 13 bucks an hour
but they count on volume to make ends meet
meet
not too much but it's about the quick
flip we ain't even really thinking about
making too much money we were at about
getting it in and getting it all so we
can stay with him the rest of the cash
goes up the chain to the cruise drug supplier
supplier
a regional distributor who works with
the cartel
the payment's got to be right and it's
got to be fast
we got to go back to the store twelve
hundred dollars if you take that credit
from them man you gotta pay him if not
he gonna come see you you're gonna be
there six feet under man cause we spoke
rap spoken for that count man yeah where
we from you got to keep it with you or
somebody you're running your Troublesome
you feel me but there's another problem
moving cash in the hood is riskier than
Skillets anxious
he's got 12 hours until his wholesaler
opens shop and that means holding on to
the cash
everybody out here thirsty robbers we
gotta keep their eyes up for the haters
man they trying to take you down because
they ain't eating family it's all I wore
everywhere man that's why we call it
Chiraq because it's so you'll never know
where it's coming from man your homie
across you for a couple bucks man sad is
you got to keep your pistol while you
trapping if not you're gonna get got
Skillet's homeboy Breeze is always ready
with a gun he's had plenty of practice I
do this all the time I had to swap
something out you know be getting hot
you can't keep the house for long that's
my baby though I made it on to say I'm
loving it say I'm loving it
all we need is that money man that's all
we care about [Applause]
[Applause]
the greater Chicago area has thousands
of trap houses holding millions of
dollars destined to go south
if local police could chuck off the
money supply here they'll do major
damage to the local dealers and their
50 minutes away in Lake County
local sheriffs are planning to do just that
that
we make two Patrol purchases hundred
dollars worth of crack cocaine
they're preparing to raid a trap house
and seize cash they always want to
we've gotten a lot of tips or stash
houses are at it's worth it because
that's where you hurt people ah these
guys are accustomed to being in jail you
know it's not a big threat to them take
their money from them you take what
they've worked for that's where it hurts them
them
so today they hope to seize the Dealer's
cash before he passes it up the supply chain
Sheriff's block all Escape Routes
they know the suspect's armed and has a
but the battering ram can't get them in
got one in custody two they get their
but they haven't found what would really
damage the local supply chain
money will be nice but just didn't have
that luck today
back in Chicago
one flush dealer turns to cleaning his
loan do not test the drugs baby that's
what I touch
cocaine wholesaler peace long splits his
drug Revenue
sending dirty money South to his suppliers
suppliers
while laundering his personal profits
tonight he's preparing to clean 150
thousand dollars at a Chicago Club
for this little joint tonight
setting up about 100 150 Big Money Baby
all day that's all we do
gonna flip this real quick Get Rich Man
all day
but getting the money there is no guarantee
guarantee
we got to wrap this seal you know what
I'm saying wrap this seal because one
time riding got pulled over they brought
the dogs dog sniffed me out took 17 from
me so now I gotta wrap it up Vaseline it
down and keep it concealed so he takes
no chances
all right now on my way down here to go
pick up this little cheddar if I wanted
strap up Safety First
as a Chicago Kingpin peace long makes
millions supplying cocaine to the city
street gangs
but he can't spend his ill-gotten gains
without drawing unwanted attention
the most we ever did
was like one five that's 1.5 Mill people
and that was not too long ago to be
honest with you he must claim a credible
source of income to get his money into a
bank or else his crackdendo will be useless
useless
I gotta mingle with the rich people keep
my nose clean dress Sharp
and leave all the other stuff in my neighborhood
neighborhood
so he fronts events at clubs to make it
look like he's a legitimate entrepreneur
that's where the most money come in say
we do two three events a week usually
more smallest one might bring you in 10.
the biggest one might bring in like you
said 150 200.
peace long Cooks the books inflating his
sales with dirty drug cash now what I'm
collecting on is the dog the drinks the
tickets one gonna pay for everything
full up front with my dirty money and I
by inflating ticket food and drink sales
peace long has mass the money's true origin
origin
ultimately he receives a check that he
can deposit in a bank hi what's up just
left from one of the huge events you
know what I'm saying just made 150 off
that checked up baby 150 off that that
dirty Coke money to clean gang money
because it's all about the game baby
Long's cleaned his personal profits but
he's got a problem
still must pay his traffickers but he
can't wire this much money as would draw
unwanted attention
fans don't get you they know you owe too
much money they only don't think they
don't they know tough banking
regulations and federal investigators
means he must be careful with the
traffickers money
fortunately for wholesalers like peace
long there's another Cog at the
an army of Transporters ready to move
special agents for ice Homeland Security
investigations work to stop the flow of
see here's our vehicle that we seized
from a criminal organization that was
moving money into the to the Southwest
but this is no ordinary SUV
start the vehicle activate the rear
defrost then there's a magnet which
completes the circuit
raising the entire back
of the vehicle
revealing the hidden compartment
ingenious retrofits like this keep HSI
agents on their toes there's enough room
in this trap it's probably concealed
outside Chicago HSI is on the hunt for
dirty money
a group that I'm currently in is a
financial investigations group
that group primarily focuses on the
illegal and illicit narcotics proceeds
that are being transferred back to
Mexico and Colombia
special agent popovitz is heading to a
strip mall where cartel operatives have
previously conducted cash handovers the
last 10 years on average our team seizes
about 10 million dollars a year bulk cash
the dirty cash often change Hands In
store parking lot cartels want to remain
anonymous um blend in with the general
population we've actually done multiple
deals in here meaning that we've
observed members of cartels dropping
bags to other members yeah copy that you
know about three rows away from this guy
it's very simple you'll you'll see two
cars pull up side by side and typically
what happens is
trunk opens up and a duffel bag goes
in a perfect world we're able to
identify who that person is dropping the
money off to and then eventually
hopefully hit the larger load and really
disrupt the organization 4x4
everyone thinks that it's just in the
bad parts of town but the reality of it
it's in every part of town and it's in
it's estimated anywhere from 20 to 40
billion dollars moving around this
country per year
so to move 20 to 40 billion dollars a
year 100 000 at a time you just can't do
it so they have to take those risks and
they have to push that kind of money
through these vehicles
trying to run the law enforcement
Gauntlet are thousands of cartel money
Transporters man one thing you got to
realize that it is a thousand
compartments on a truck these tires
right here man can be filled with 10 to
15 a piece from this part right here to
his part right here now you got an extra
compartment you can build easiest walls
today spins is making final checks on
his truck before transporting dirty drug
cash to the cartel in Houston
he can stash millions of dollars in a
truck like this
I do like you know one trip every two
three months you know plain and simple
shrimp isn't only two days 22 hours on
to direct Southern Roots out of Chicago
heavily patrolled spins switches highways
highways
he's using I-65 Southbound in Lake
County Indiana
but sheriffs are on the lookout we've
seen major shipments of money coming
through here that we're destined for Mexico
[Music]
Sergeant Stewart has patrolled Indiana's
highways for over 10 years
he's no stranger to intercepting dirty money
typically in a year and three of us sees
you know anywhere from 500 000 to a
million in cash you're being detained
right now and suspicious of trafficking
illegal currency but picking the right
vehicle requires an experienced eye you
know as you can see there's hundreds of
cars that go by every minute and we have
to somehow sort through that
ton of traffic typically I see them long
before they see me because I'm sitting
still just watching traffic
if they're a criminal that's committing
a serious crime or something that's
serious in their mind and they suddenly
notice me when I've seen them all along
they're going to have that fear of
reaction they're going to have that
adrenaline dump the they're going to
stop thinking clearly and they're going
to do something that disrupts the flow
yeah I felt like I've been trilled you
know while I was driving with my load
down the highway I felt like you know
people watching me you know just get
but if spins gets pulled over with
cartel money in his possession he won't
be worrying about going to jail
what I think about cartel just like you
know I don't know some badass
well you just don't want to mess with it [Applause]
[Applause]
it's go time [Music]
I'm going to take a look at this car up
here when it was approaching me it was
tailgating a semi
Sergeant Stewart of the Lake County
Sheriffs is following a suspicious
he approaches cautiously
some traffickers are prepared to use
maximum Force to defend their loads you
know all your brake lights are out back
here your license plate is hanging off
the back it's a license valid
all right we'll come back here let's
check out your license
with the driver in the car the sheriff
senses something you get charged with
weed before
oh yeah the reason why I mentioned that
to you is because you smell like weed a
little bit right now oh no oh no he's
is there any more weight in that car
Sergeant Stewart turns up the heat on
the passenger goodbye
Hey I was talking to your partner said
some guys were smoking weed with you
earlier because he smelled like weed
there's no weed no no I said he smelled
like wheat stick your ear
is there weed in the car okay
okay
with little evidence of illegal activity
your license is valid you think you can
finish driving all the way you have no
problem with that figuring he has bigger
fish to fry he decides to cut them loose
they seem like they
we're legit I didn't notice anything in
the car any older in the car itself
I don't think there was anything really
but the following morning Sergeant
Stewart is in for a surprise he spots
it's the same vehicle with the broken
brake light and the passenger that
Sergeant Stewart pulled over yesterday
but there's something wrong with the driver
driver
the K-9 unit take a closer sniff did
your dog hit on the car yeah okay you
if the driver's trafficking weed
then Sergeant Stewart spots something in
the Man's Pocket I see you got a big
a large amount of cash like this makes
Stewart suspicious the man could be
moving both drugs and money how come you
got your girlfriend's tax money in your pocket
pocket
you know you got it she trust you with
it yeah it's a good girlfriend
you got to work
oh you don't
fish okay with no drugs present they've
got to let them go again like I told you
man make sure you get them brake lights
fixed that's just asking to get pulled over
over
cops can seize any amount over ten
thousand dollars if they suspect it's dirty
dirty
unfortunately for sergeant Stewart
a lot of these lower level guys are
moving back and forth between these
cities which are only a couple hours
apart with you know ten thousand dollars
six thousand dollars even twenty
thousand dollars probably they're going
to be safe with that amount of money
the cops only sees a small part of the
income from America's 100 billion dollar
drug trade I've heard estimates that
it's only one percent of what is going
up and down the highways or being
transported back to drug cartels in
[Music]
300 miles south money transporter spins
has made it a third of the way to
Houston without drawing any unwanted attention
attention
like Transporters Across the Nation he's
carrying drug money for laundering by
the cartel
who will then package the cash in
preparation for its journey across the border
I guess you could say I'm the hood bank
I'll make sure that everything is where
it's supposed to be I'm basically
[Music]
Capo directs the movement of dirty cash
throughout the United States and into
Houston whoever's holding that crown for
being the most responsible with the
money make sure everything gets back in
one piece and that's how it ended up
being my situation of branching out to
Atlanta and Miami's and New Yorks and
New Jersey and Chicago
he's waiting for spins and a dozen other
cash Transporters to deliver before he
sends the money down to Mexico a tough
week at the border where it's hard to
get stuff across maybe a hundred
thousand two hundred thousand when it's
smooth you're talking Millions weekly
Capo smuggles money across the border to
Nuevo Laredo but right now there's a
problem all this award is going all over
Mexico it's over this state line this
has all seen a lower territory this is
Capo works for the gulf cartel which
controls Nuevo Laredo
and the ongoing war with the Sinaloa
cartel makes Capo's cash shipments vulnerable
vulnerable
this is where it's going down
everybody's fighting for this birthday
this water this came from so Capo keeps bodyguards
