DETROIT – The Department of Justice unsealed a civil lawsuit seeking forfeiture of more than $14.9 million, which it says was seized as part of an international drug money-laundering scheme.
The lawsuit, originally filed in 2024, details the seizures and alleges a complex pattern of trade-based drug money laundering that moved cash out of the United States through commercial transactions.
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According to the complaint, trade-based money laundering involved depositing U.S. cash drug proceeds into American bank accounts tied to real or shell companies, then shifting value to Colombia or elsewhere by delivering products or services that could be sold in local currency.
The suit alleges that investigators traced the roughly $14.9 million to bank accounts belonging to companies with ties to international commerce.
Those accounts include ones linked to a successful Latin American musician whose accountant told investigators the cash deposits were related to concerts in Colombia, and to multiple import-export businesses, the complaint says.
The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Jerome F. Gorgon Jr., joined by Joseph O. Dixon, special agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Detroit office.
The suit is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative the Department of Justice said marshals federal resources to combat transnational criminal organizations, human and drug trafficking, and related violent crime.
The DOJ said the investigation into the alleged scheme is ongoing.