At least two U.S. federal agents working with a group of informants and straw men in Mexico were allegedly able to set up a sophisticated money laundering operation based out of Mexico City’s airport. The operation reportedly ran during the Obama-Biden administration between 2010 and 2019. The two agents apparently have not faced any prosecution and are reportedly still employed by the U.S. government.
Through that operation, which reportedly included currency exchange storefronts and various other businesses, the agents are alleged to have laundered millions for Colombian and Mexican drug cartels while working their day jobs as high-ranking officials with U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Mexico’s Proceso Magazine reported. In two separate reports, the Mexican publication detailed how the group set up currency exchange businesses to move large amounts of cash and used several ghost companies to launder funds.
The reports are based on documents and statements given to Proceso by an unnamed individual who claimed to have been one of the financial operators in the network while also working as a DHS informant.
The report identified the two DHS agents as Thomas LaPak and Kenny Popovits. The informant claimed that he worked with them for years to move funds between Mexico, North Korea, China, Taiwan, and the U.S. by using ghost companies and various banking institutions.
In the report, Proceso details the wire transfers between ghost companies used to launder hundreds of thousands of dollars at a time. One of the companies, Promotora de Cambio, was a currency exchange shop based out of Mexico City’s airport, where the informant claimed to have delivered bags of cash on a regular basis. The various companies mentioned in the article do not appear to have been raided by Mexican authorities or mentioned in any investigations in the years after.
The source of the article claimed to have been prosecuted in the U.S. on money laundering charges and that the two agents that he worked with abandoned him to his fate. After serving his time and returning to Mexico, the individual has kept a low profile, fearing for his life.
The article’s source also claimed that the DHS agents had recommended him to a DEA agent who wanted to work with him in other financial matters and use him as a source, but the informant claimed to have refused.
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.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.