Woman Pleads Guilty to Funneling Cartel Money Through Ohio Banks

A female Mexican national pleaded guilty to laundering large quantities of cash through U.S. banks in Ohio for one of the most violent drug cartels.

This week, Susana Ramirez Orozco, pleaded guilty to one count of money laundering in a U.S. federal court in California. The woman is a Mexican national legally able to travel to the U.S. before her arrest last summer. Ramirez is expected to be sentenced in March. The case was first reported by Cleveland.com.

According to a criminal complaint filed in the U.S. Central District of California, Ramirez spent several years building a network of money laundering brokers who would wire funds from various U.S. cities to Mexico for Cartel Jalisco New Generation (CJNG). A Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) undercover agent infiltrated the network and, through the use of informants, set up meetings and interacted with Ramirez and her bosses in Mexico.

The agent worked to set up multiple cash contracts where he would wire cartel cash through a U.S. bank in exchange for a commission. Ramirez and others in her organization claimed to have several brokers who offered the same services. One of Ramirez’s superiors, Raul Lanegra, claimed to work directly with the leader of CJNG Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes and to receive approximately $417 million in payment for moving billions of the cartel’s money through government contracts.

The agent was given a series of contracts that had her moving funds from Ohio and New York to Mexico using bank accounts set up by the DEA. Eventually, the agent was able to lure Orozco to Ohio where authorities arrested her during the summer. Since then, the woman remained in federal custody.

As Breitbart Texas has reported, CJNG is one of the main perpetrators of violence throughout Mexico. The criminal organization clashes with various rivals driving up the violence in once-peaceful resort sites like Cancun, Baja California, and Central Mexico. As part of their tactics in Mexico, CJNG implements the use of IEDs, car bombs, and has even weaponized drones to drop explosives.

Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com. 

Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.