Georgia Resident Arrested For Cartel Money Laundering, Buford, GA
A bi-partisan coalition in the Georgia’s senate pass SB 465, in the last session which would increase the penalty, among other things, for fentanyl distribution.
On Wednesday, the United States Department of Justice reported that they had arrested two “alleged members of a transnational money laundering organization arrested for laundering millions of dollars in drug proceeds” in Buford, Georgia, and Chicago, Illinois.
The two suspects were charged in separate criminal complaints, both facing a maximum penalty of up to 20 years in prison for “conspiring to commit money laundering.”
The Justice Department’s report alleges that both parties arrested are tied to the Sinaloa and Jalisco cartels based out of Mexico in money laundering activity.
Li Pei Tan, 46, of Buford, Georgia, was arrested today. Chaojie Chen, 41, a foreign national residing in Chicago, was arrested on April 18.
They have merely been charged with a criminal complaint, and their right to the presumption of innocence still holds true. They’ll have their day in court.
Cartels In America and Georgia
Illegal drugs have stormed into America from Mexico for a long time, but with the rising fentanyl supply, cartel members are pushing into every state and region of the United States, including Georgia.
In Georgia, for instance, deaths from opioid-related deaths have increased from 853 to 1,718, or 101%, from 2019-2021.
In Muscogee County Georgia, over $21 million worth of drugs were seized by the sheriff’s office, a 2233.33% increase from just $900,000 in 2021.
With Atlanta, Interstate 95, 85, 75, and 185, Georgia is a key hub in the cartel’s gun, drug, and human trafficking as a corridor to the east coast.
A bi-partisan coalition in the Georgia’s senate passed SB 465, in the last session which would increase the penalty, among other things, for fentanyl distribution. SB 465 was signed by governor Kemp in late April.
Trump and Biden
Although this arrest happened under the Biden DOJ, Trump has taken a much firmer stance against the cartels. Reports have been circulating that, President Trump if he wins re-election in 2024 will authorize special military units to target cartel masterminds and drug kingpins.
Read: Are Mexican Cartels Terrorist Organizations? By Collin Pruett, in The American Conservative Magazine
Continuing the Fight Against Cartels Starts with Our Borders. Georgia Can Act.
Opinion:
To fight cartels, one firstly must fight illegal immigration which has powered the cartels to invade our country with guns, human trafficking, and drugs. Without a closed border, the violence we witness in Latin American countries will continue to creep into America. And one day, we will wake up realizing that regions of this country are no better off then the Sinaloa region of Mexico.
Senator Colton Moore revealed legal human trafficking by Team Libertad (translated from Spanish into English: Team Freedom.) Now legally speaking, the activities documented by Colton Moore are essentially human trafficking, but only with government approval. It’s a transportation hub for immigrants that are flying through America, on the tax-payer dime, to their permanent destination. Of course, such an action is on contingency that they continue to return to their immigration costume court hearings, which many of them ignore or have wait times of up to seven years.
America First Policy Institute reports that, “A record-setting 3.2 million illegal aliens were “encountered” nationwide by the Department of Homeland Security in fiscal year (FY) 2023, surpassing the previous high of 2.7 million illegal alien encounters nationwide in FY 2022.”
Going after these sorts of organizations that aid and abed in the transportation, housing, and support of undocumented migrants who illegally cross the border should be a focus of every Republican state.
Read: “Texas attorney general moves to shut down Catholic migrant shelters” To that I say, “Good.”
One must also recall that undocumented illegals include terrorists and known criminals: Terrorists Welcome by Todd Bensman, in The American Mind
Georgia can have a role to play in the process. The ongoing refrain from state legislatures and executive leaders, that immigration is a, “federal issue…” is only partly true. Georgia officials can pass laws and regulations that limit the ability of undocumented immigrants to live, work, and settle in Georgia.