Colombian national pleads guilty in 7-year drug money laundering scheme

A Colombian national pleaded guilty to participating in a seven-year money laundering conspiracy that used drug trafficking proceeds to purchase consumer electronics for export to Colombia, the Justice Department announced.

Andrelio Castaño Rojas, 55, of Colombia, admitted to conspiring to launder drug trafficking proceeds from January 2018 through March 2025 using a currency exchange scheme, according to court documents. Rojas opened U.S. bank accounts for two of his U.S. companies and arranged for those business accounts to receive drug proceeds through bank wires and bulk cash deposits, court documents state. He then used the funds to buy consumer electronics that he exported to Colombia, according to the Justice Department.

Rojas pleaded guilty to money laundering conspiracy. Sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 22, 2027, and he faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, the Justice Department said. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors, according to the announcement.

Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, First Assistant U.S. Attorney Theophani K. Stamos for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Chief of Operations Matthew Allen of the Drug Enforcement Administration made the announcement.

The DEA’s Norfolk Resident Office and Miami Field Division are investigating the case, according to the Justice Department. Trial Attorneys Yuliana Reyes and Mark Irish of the Criminal Division’s Money Laundering, Narcotics and Forfeiture Section, along with Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin Hudson for the Eastern District of Virginia, are prosecuting the case, the department said.

The Money Laundering, Narcotics and Forfeiture Section’s mission is to take the profit out of crime, eliminate drug cartels, and protect the U.S. financial system, according to the Justice Department. The section pursues criminal prosecutions and criminal and civil asset recovery actions involving financial facilitators who launder profits for criminals; financial institutions and their officers and employees whose actions threaten the U.S. financial system and financial institutions; international money launderers who support transnational organized crime; and the top command and control of international drug trafficking organizations, the department said.

Within that section, the Money Laundering and Forfeiture Unit investigates and prosecutes sophisticated money laundering schemes involving financial facilitators, gatekeepers, and other individuals and entities that launder criminal proceeds. It also litigates complex civil forfeiture cases to recover assets on behalf of victims, according to the Justice Department.