Federal agents seize $65 million in cash during Los Angeles drug bust  (2024)

A massive raid earlier today in California turned up a staggering $65 million in cash.

Federal agents descended upon dozens of businesses in the downtown Los Angeles Fashion District Wednesday morning as part of an investigation into suspected money laundering done for Mexican drug cartels.

Among the cash seized was $140,000 in ransom paid by relatives and friends of a U.S. citizen who was kidnapped, beaten, shot, electrocuted and waterboarded while being held captive by a Mexican cartel.

Scroll down for video

In addition to the money, nine people were arrested as 1,000 officers with the DEA, ICE, IRS and FBI descended on approximately 80 businesses.

'We have targeted money-laundering activities in the Fashion District based on a wealth of information that numerous businesses there are engaged in Black Market Peso Exchange schemes,' assistant U.S. attorney Robert E. Dugdale said in a statement.

'Los Angeles has become the epicenter of narco-dollar money laundering with couriers regularly bringing duffel bags and suitcases full of cash to many businesses.'

The Black Market Peso Exchange is a complicated system in which businesses help to launder drug money for international cartels.

Brokers in Mexico will find a business that wants to buy goods from the United States, and have a drug dealer in the United States who wants to convert their U.S. dollars to Mexican pesos purchase those goods for the Mexican business using their U.S. dollars.

Then, once the Mexican business sells all those purchased goods in Mexico, which had been paid for by the drug dealer in the U.S. with dollars, they hand over the pesos to the broker, thereby converting the dealer's U.S. dollars into Mexican pesos without ever physically moving any cash.

The most harrowing news to come out of the raid was the revelation that one business,Q.T. Fashion Inc., a maternity apparel wholesaler, accepted $140,000 cash and then sentsent clothes to a retail business in Culiacan, Mexico,according to the Los Angeles Times.

That money had been for the release of an American drug distributor who was kidnapped and tortured by the Sinaloa cartel afterU.S. agents intercepted a shipment of 100 kilograms of cocaine he was responsible for selling.

The man had been shot, beaten, electrocuted and waterboarded on a ranch in Mexico.

His friends and family members were the ones who brought the money to the business

Arrests were also made at three other businesses, Yili Underwear, Gayima Underwear and Pacific Eurotex Corp., accused of laundering money.

We are no longer accepting comments on this article.