In Florida, a member of a criminal organization was arrested for laundering proceeds through cryptocurrencies

In the state of Florida, a suspect was arrested for laundering money through crypto assets and bank checks forconcealment of the origin of drugs related to the drug business.

According to court documents, Pedro AntonioAquino-Eufracia (Pedro Antonio Aquino-Eufracia) is accused of conspiracy related to drug trafficking, as well as money laundering using bank checks and cryptocurrencies.

The complaint filed with the District Court of the Southern DistrictFlorida Special Agent for the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Drew Gizzi claims that Aquino-Euphrasia is part of the “large international money laundering organization” based in New Jersey, Florida, the Dominican Republic and others unnamed jurisdictions.

"Investigation, including the study obtained onthe legal grounds for mobile communications and other electronic evidence, showed that at least twice in April and May 2018, Aquino-Euphrasia agreed to receive large amounts of cash income from drugs from his accomplice, and then converted the cash into virtual currency ” , - he said.

Aquino-Euphrasia received an order fromThe "high-ranking member" of the organization deposited an unnamed amount in cryptocurrency for specific wallets, while the organization hoped to hide the details of cash receipts. The complaint does not indicate the dollar value of the cryptocurrency that was used to launder the funds or which crypto assets were used in addition to bitcoin.

According to Gizzy, in July 2018, employeeslaw enforcement authorities seized nearly $ 200,000 from accomplices. He claims that “millions of dollars in cash from the sale of drugs” were laundered by the accused. An arrest warrant for Aquino-Euphrasia was signed by a federal judge in New Jersey on February 14th. In addition to the DEA, the criminal investigation department of the United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS) participated in the investigation.

To criminals who launder illegal proceedsthrough income, it is less and less possible to evade responsibility. Recently in the Netherlands, two citizens were arrested for money laundering through cryptocurrencies, and in the middle of the month a US citizen was charged with laundering $311 million in BTC for the darknet market AlphaBay.

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