Money laundering

Tijuana currency exchange house owner sentenced to 137 months for laundering $13 million of narcotics proceeds for Sinaloa Cartel

Cesar Hernandez-Martinez, a 29-year-old Tijuana man, was sentenced in federal court Tuesday to 137 months in custody for laundering $13 million of narcotics proceeds for the Sinaloa Cartel. Hernandez owned and operated currency exchange houses in Tijuana that received proceeds from the sale of multi-kilogram quantities of cocaine, methamphetamine and heroin smuggled into the United States by the cartel.

The sentencing is the result of an eight-year investigation spearheaded by special agents from ICE Homeland Security Investigations in San Diego.

"The profit motive is at the heart of the world's most violent drug trafficking organizations and cash is their lifeblood," said U.S. Attorney Robert Brewer. "We will continue to work relentlessly to stem the flow of dirty money that feeds these criminal organizations and end the agony caused by illicit narcotics in our community."

According to court records, Hernandez was a manager of the money laundering organization. He coordinated with others to smuggle U.S. currency from the United States to Mexico where it was converted to Mexican pesos and delivered to drug traffickers based in Sinaloa, Tijuana and elsewhere in Mexico. In his plea agreement, Hernandez admitted to coordinating the movement of these funds to Mexico and supervising the laundering of the drug proceeds.