Former high-ranking U.S. DEA agent accused of conspiring to traffic drugs and launder millions of dollars for a Mexican cartel

The vest of a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent in Washington, DC, in August. (Credit: Win McNamee/Getty Images via CNN Newsource)

A former high-level U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) agent was indicted on and federal charges of conspiring to traffic drugs and launder millions of dollars for a Mexican cartel.

Paul Campo, who was a DEA agent for nearly 25 years, and his associate Robert Sensi, are accused in a new indictment unsealed Friday of converting cash into cryptocurrency to buy 220 kilograms of cocaine, worth US$5 million, and launder US$750,000 in proceeds from drug sales for the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, or CJNG. The U.S. State Department designated CJNG as a foreign terrorist organization earlier this year.

Campo pleaded not guilty to the charges Friday and was detained.

Prosecutors in the Southern District of New York allege the men agreed to launder at least US$12 million for the cartel.

CNN has attempted to reach Campo, who doesn’t have a attorney identified in court records, for comment.

Authorities allege he and Sensi met with a confidential source working at the direction of U.S. law enforcement posing as a member of the cartel. During a meeting in March at a restaurant in New York, according to the indictment, the men discussed how to move money from the U.S. to Mexico, including by investing in real estate and smuggling cash in bulk.

Campo allegedly told the government source that he had other projects where he helped clients “get their money back,” according to the indictment. Campo allegedly flashed his DEA badge to the confidential source in the meeting, telling him he retired from the DEA years ago.

Campo rose to deputy chief of the U.S. DEA’s Office of Financial Operations, putting him in charge of the agency’s money laundering operations, according to his bio at Global Financial Consultants, a company he founded after leaving the agency. He retired from the DEA in 2016. A call and email to the company was not immediately returned Friday. Sensi could not immediately be reached.

Prosecutors allege Campo and others agreed at a meeting in Tampa, Florida, in March to launder up to US$12 million in drug trafficking proceeds. They agreed to start small with an initial transaction of US$200,000, according to the indictment. After the first drop in Charlotte, North Carolina, the confidential source said to Sensi, “Welcome to the f****** cartel,” according to the indictment.

By October, authorities allege, the confidential source approached the men about participating in a drug deal. He directed Sensi to send over US$200,000 in cryptocurrency to the seller for 220 kilograms of cocaine. The government-directed confidential source said he would sell the drugs for US$5 million and give Campo and Sensi a 30 per cent cut.

Campo and others sent more than US$200,000 in cryptocurrency to a wallet they believed was controlled by the seller, but was really controlled by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service. The confidential source confirmed receipt, according to the indictment, and sent an encrypted message to Campo and Sensi saying, “Wow brothers!! Taking possession of the product NOW!!!.”

Campo and Sensi have been charged with narco-terrorism conspiracy, conspiracy to distribute narcotics, conspiracy to provide material support to CJNG, and money laundering conspiracy.