Two individuals involved in a transnational money laundering organization have been sentenced to prison for their roles in laundering millions of dollars in drug proceeds linked to prominent foreign drug cartels, including the Sinaloa cartel and Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion.
Li Pei Tan, a 47-year-old resident of Buford, Georgia, received a 78-month prison sentence, while his co-conspirator, Chaojie Chen, a 41-year-old Chinese national residing in Chicago, was sentenced to 90 months in December 2024. Both individuals were part of an organization responsible for laundering large sums of money derived from drug trafficking activities in the United States, primarily involving the importation and distribution of illegal drugs through Mexico.
According to court documents, Tan and Chen, along with their conspirators, collected proceeds from trafficking fentanyl and cocaine, among other drugs. They coordinated with accomplices in China and other countries to launder these funds through various financial transactions, employing a sophisticated trade-based laundering method involving bulk electronics purchased in the United States that were then shipped to China.
Before Chen's arrest in May 2024, law enforcement officers intercepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash linked to drug sales at various locations across the United States. Tan was detained in South Carolina while attempting to transport over $197,000 in drug proceeds.
The DEA’s National Drug Threat Assessment identifies the Sinaloa and Jalisco cartels as central figures in the ongoing fentanyl crisis in the United States. The investigation was carried out by multiple DEA divisions and offices across the country, with the coordination of several agencies under the Justice Department.
Special Agent Louis A. D’Ambrosio of the DEA’s Special Operations Division, Matthew R. Galeotti from the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, and U.S. Attorney Erik S. Siebert for the Eastern District of Virginia announced the sentences.
This case forms part of Operation Take Back America, an initiative aimed at combating illegal immigration, dismantling cartels, and protecting communities from violent crimes by utilizing the resources of the Department of Justice’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).
The prosecution team included Trial Attorney Mary K. Daly from the Criminal Division’s Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Edgardo J. Rodriguez from the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia.
OCDETF operations focus on identifying and dismantling major criminal organizations through a comprehensive approach combining prosecution and intelligence from multiple agencies.
Further details about the OCDETF Program are available at www.justice.gov/OCDETF.