Two Chinese nationals charged with laundering cartel drug money

Two Chinese nationals have been charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering in connection with transnational criminal organizations, including the Sinaloa Cartel and the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG), according to an unsealed federal indictment in the Eastern District of Virginia.

Ruhuan Zhen and Hongce Wu allegedly laundered narcotics proceeds and funds represented to be narcotics proceeds on behalf of the cartels, the Justice Department announced. The pair were indicted April 24, 2025, by a federal grand jury in Alexandria, Virginia, and remain at large.

Court documents allege the scheme began in at least November 2016 and continued through April 2025, spanning nearly a decade and reaching across the United States, Mexico, Latin America, China and elsewhere. Zhen, Wu and their co-conspirators allegedly employed a range of clandestine methods to move narcotics proceeds through the global financial system, including proceeds tied to cocaine and fentanyl trafficking.

Prosecutors allege the defendants used mirror transfers, foreign bank accounts, encrypted communications applications, a serial-number verification system and trade-based money laundering to conceal the origins of the funds. The indictment says the proceeds stemmed from the importation and sale of illicit narcotics.

If convicted, each defendant faces a maximum of 20 years in federal prison. A judge will determine any sentence after weighing U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.