Former DEA Deputy Chief of Financial Operations Paul Campo Charged with Narco Terrorism Conspiracy in CJNG Crypto Laundering Scheme

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A former longtime Drug Enforcement Administration agent who rose to help oversee the agency’s financial operations has been charged with agreeing to launder millions of dollars in narcotics proceeds for a Mexican drug cartel, according to an indictment unsealed on Friday in Federal District Court in Manhattan.

The former agent, Paul Campo, worked for the DEA for about 25 years, the indictment said, first as a DEA Special Agent in New York and eventually rising to become a high-level official — the Deputy Chief of the Office of Financial Operations. He retired in January 2016 and now runs a private consulting business, according to the indictment.

Campo laundered about $750,000 for the cartel by converting cash into cryptocurrency, and agreed to launder far more — $12 million in all, according to the indictment. He also provided a payment for about 220 kilograms of cocaine on the understanding that the drugs had been imported into the United States, the indictment said.

Former DEA Deputy Chief of Financial Operations Paul Campo

Paul Campo has been charged with narco-terrorism conspiracy, conspiracy to distribute narcotics, conspiracy to provide material support to a terrorist organization and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

According to the indictment, in late 2024, ROBERT SENSI began meeting with a confidential source working at the direction of law enforcement (“CS-1”), who was posing as a member of CJNG. SENSI told CS-1 that he had a friend who used to be in charge of DEA’s financial operations who could assist CJNG by laundering narcotics proceeds and providing CS-1 with sensitive DEA information about sources and investigations.

After these initial meetings, CAMPO and SENSI together met with CS-1 on several occasions. During these conversations, CAMPO and SENSI agreed to launder money for CS‑1 by, among other things, converting cash into cryptocurrency and making investments in real estate. CAMPO and SENSI further advised CS-1 about fentanyl production and explored procuring commercial drones and military-grade weapons and equipment for CJNG, including AR-15 semi-automatic rifles, M4 carbines, M16 rifles, grenade launchers, and rocket-propelled grenades. As part of these discussions, CAMPO and SENSI often boasted about and relied heavily on CAMPO’s prior federal law enforcement experience and expertise regarding financial investigations and drug cartels.

Robert Sensi of Global Asset Tracking

Regarding the drones, in one meeting, CS‑1 explained to CAMPO, “what we do with the drones, we put explosives and we just send it over there, boom”; in another conversation, CS‑1 asked SENSI how much C-4 explosive the drones could carry, to which SENSI responded, in sum and substance, approximately six kilograms, which is enough to “blow up the whole f------ . . . I don’t want to say.”

As part of the scheme, CAMPO and SENSI agreed to launder approximately $12,000,000 of CJNG narcotics proceeds; laundered approximately $750,000 by converting cash into cryptocurrency; and provided a payment for approximately 220 kilograms of cocaine on the understanding that the payment would trigger the distribution and sale of the narcotics worth approximately $5,000,000, for which CAMPO and SENSI would (i) receive directly a portion of the narcotics proceeds as profit; and (ii) receive a further commission upon the laundering of the balance of the narcotics proceeds.

“As alleged, Paul Campo and Robert Sensi conspired to assist CJNG, one of the most notorious Mexican cartels that is responsible for countless deaths through violence and drug trafficking in the United States and Mexico,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton. “As part of that support, the defendants laundered hundreds of thousands of dollars they believed to be CJNG drug proceeds, agreed to launder millions more, and even agreed to use their financial expertise to facilitate cocaine trafficking right here in New York City. By participating in this scheme, Campo betrayed the mission he was entrusted with pursuing for his 25-year career with the DEA. CJNG is a violent and corrupting criminal enterprise that New Yorkers want broken. I commend the extraordinary efforts of the DEA in aggressively pursuing CJNG and those who support their deadly and corrupt efforts, no matter who they may be.”

“The indictment of former Special Agent Paul Campo sends a powerful message: those who betray the public trust—past or present—will be held to account to the fullest extent of the law,” said DEA Administrator Terrance C. Cole. “The alleged conduct occurred after he left DEA and was unrelated to his official duties here, but any former agent who chooses to engage in criminal activity dishonors the men and women who serve with integrity and undermines the public’s confidence in law enforcement. We will not look the other way simply because someone once wore this badge. There is no tolerance and no excuse for this kind of betrayal.”

According to the About page of his Global Financial Consultants company:

​Prior to the establishment of GFC, Paul Campo had a 25 year career as a Special Agent with the Drug Enforcement Administration. He was appointed Deputy Chief of the Office of Financial Operations in February of 2013. In this capacity, Mr. Campo oversaw in excess of 17 million dollars in agency funding and was responsible for worldwide money laundering operations. He employed cutting-edge technologies to enhance existing programs, as well as created, developed and implemented new bi-lateral enforcement programs with the Government of Mexico and other Latin America Countries.

He represented DEA before Congress, the banking industry, money service businesses (MSBs), Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC), Department of Justice (DOJ), United States Treasury, the National Security Council, as well as foreign, federal, state and local law enforcement officials. He has presented and/or moderated at several conferences for the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL), Financial Action Task Force (FATF), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), FinCen, the Federal Reserve, Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists (ACAMS) Bankers, the Canadian AML Institute, the Bank Secrecy Act Advisor Group and various Department of Defense (DOD) components relative to threat finance and drug money laundering.
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He provided briefings to the Attorney General, members of Congress and staffers on several of DEA’s enforcement programs. He participated in numerous executive level briefings for high ranking foreign officials, U.S. Ambassadors and Ministry officials visiting DEA Headquarters from all around the world. He Co-Chaired the Strategic Alliance Agency/Proceeds of Crime Working Group which monitors current international money laundering crime threats and international criminally complicit MSBs.

Prior to his assignment in the Office of Financial Operations, Mr. Campo held several key positions within DEA. He was the Acting Chief of the Office of Congressional Affairs from 2004 to 2005. In that capacity, Mr. Campo was the principal advisor to then Administrator Karen Tandy on all congressional related matters. Mr. Campo was promoted and became a member of DEA’s Executive Staff as an Executive Assistant for the Office of Chief Counsel from 2005 to 2008. While on Executive Staff, Mr. Campo was involved with the implementation of the agency policies and procedures that impacted DEA’s mission. From 1998 to 2003, Mr. Campo held a variety of positions, to include Acting Regional Director for the Europe and Africa regions while assigned to DEA offices in Rome and Milan, Italy. While assigned to the Embassy in Rome and then the Consulate in Milan, Mr. Campo was responsible for all enforcement actions in the region as well as serving as the Consulate General’s personal advisor to all issues concerning narcotics trafficking.
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Early on in his career, Mr. Campo spent many years as a field agent assigned to the New York Division’s multi-agency Southeast Asian Heroin Task Force, where he excelled in the disruption of violent heroin trafficking activities. In 1996, he was assigned as a back-up supervisor in the New York Drug Enforcement Task Force, the agency’s oldest and most successful state and local cooperative initiative.

Source New York , GFC, DOJ

Categories: CJNG, cryptocurrency, dea, Money Laundering