Chinese National Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering for Drug Cartels

The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter James is seen on deck as wrapped packages of approximately 27,300 pounds of cocaine and 11,000 pounds marijuana is prepared to be offloaded at Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on Oct. 28, 2019. Joe Raedle/Getty Images

A Chinese national pleaded guilty on Monday to conspiracy to commit money laundering in connection with laundering more than $4 million in drug proceeds generated by large-scale cocaine trafficking in the United States.

Xueyong Wu, 40, had relationships with Latin American drug cartels and laundered their U.S.-based proceeds generated through the movement of cocaine or payment for cocaine to appear as if the money came from legitimate sources, the Department of Justice said in a statement.