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 News Around the Republic of Mexico | November 2007 
Mexico Raids Money Laundering Ring That Bought Drug Smuggling Planes in US
 Associated Press
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 |  | A DC9 was seized in southern Mexico in 2006 with over 5.5 tons of cocaine aboard, while a smaller aircraft allegedly acquired by the group crashed earlier this year with over 3.3 tons of cocaine aboard. |  | |
Mexico City – Mexican police captured a man on Thursday that they identified as the head of finances for the huge Sinaloa drug cartel.
Working in conjunction with U.S. authorities, Mexican police arrested Pedro Alatorre Damy and raided a currency exchange business, targeting a ring they said used laundered money to buy airplanes to smuggle drugs, the Attorney General's Office said in a news release.
Alatorre Damy, who also used the alias Pedro Barraza Urtusuastegui, was captured in Mexico City as he tried to carry out a transaction for $2.7 million, according to the Public Safety Department.
He is being held on suspicion of money laundering. Police in Mexico generally have 48 hours to lodge formal charges against suspects.
A total of 74 people allegedly participated in the targeted money laundering ring, which apparently sent drug money to the United States to buy airplanes.
One of those planes, a DC9, was seized in southern Mexico in 2006 with over 5.5 tons of cocaine aboard, while a smaller aircraft allegedly acquired by the group crashed earlier this year with over 3.3 tons of cocaine aboard.
Later, police raided the Casa de Cambio Puebla money exchange business at the Mexico City international airport, and detained three employees on suspicion of money laundering.
The Sinaloa cartel, formed by an alliance of drug lords, is one of two main trafficking organizations fighting a bloody battle for control of shipping routes to the U.S. market. |
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