How One Mexican Drug Cartel Banked Its Millions in New York City Tom Hays - Associated Press
go to original October 25, 2016

In this August 2013 surveillance photo provided by the Drug Enforcement Administration, Francisco Salgado and his sister Alejandra walk on New York’s Third Avenue in midtown Manhattan where authorities say they made multiple cash deposits at banks within a few blocks of each other as part of a Mexican cartel money-laundering scheme. Authorities say the pair entered seven different banks making cash deposits of just under $10,000, all from piles of drug money they were carrying in designer purses and shopping bags. (DEA/AP)

In the photos, Alejandra Salgado and her little brother Francisco look like ordinary tourists strolling the streets of midtown Manhattan. He carries a shopping bag. She wears a white dress, a necklace and a leather tote slung over one shoulder.

But the outings were hardly innocent.

Over two hours, federal agents snapped pictures as the pair visited seven banks, stopping at each one to make cash deposits of just under $10,000 — all from piles of drug money stashed in their bags.

Prosecutors say the flurry of modest deposits was one of the many schemes hatched by Mexican crime cartels trying to bring billions of dollars in drug proceeds back from the United States without attracting scrutiny from banking regulators.

The cartels collect much of their cash proceeds from the U.S. market much the way the cocaine and other drugs come in, by sneaking it across the border.

But using regular banks remains in the mix, said James Hunt, head of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s New York City office. The trick is keeping deposits small, because banks are required to report cash deposits of $10,000 or more to the government. The benefit, he said, is that if investigators do catch onto such a scheme, less cash gets confiscated. The bagmen also often face less jail time.

“It’s a little more time-intensive but it’s not as heavy a hit if you get caught,” Hunt said.

Before they went to prison late last month, the Salgados were paid to launder up to $1 million a month collected from drug wholesalers doing business with the notorious Sinaloa cartel, prosecutors said.

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