Illegal alien sent to prison for role in black-market peso exchange money laundering scheme

LAREDO, Texas - A 52-year-old Mexican national has been ordered to prison for his role in two-year, multimillion-dollar trade-based money laundering conspiracy to move drug trafficking proceeds through Texas to Mexico.

Gabriel Arturo Castillo of Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico, pleaded guilty April 8.

U.S. District Judge Marina Garcia Marmolejo has now ordered Castillo to serve 48 months in federal prison. As an illegal alien, he is expected to face removal proceedings following his imprisonment.

Castillo participated in a sophisticated international money laundering conspiracy to transfer proceeds from the sale of illegal drugs in the United States to cartels in Mexico without physically transporting money across the U.S.-Mexico border. The conspirators concealed those funds through the movement of goods between the two countries.

As part of the black-market peso exchange scheme, the criminal conspiracy received large quantities of drug proceeds in various cities in the United States. The proceeds then were either deposited into various bank accounts or transported to Laredo.

From there, the drug proceeds were sold to business owners in Mexico who used the U.S. currency to purchase products from stores in the United States, including perfume sellers. Once the businesses received payment, the merchandise Mexican business operators purchased was transported from Laredo to Mexico.

Finally, Mexican business operators paid for the drug proceeds by transferring pesos in Mexico to the drug trafficking organizations. By doing so, the conspirators sought to conceal the source of the drug proceeds and to allow the Mexico-based drug dealers to receive their profits in their native currency, pesos.

The Drug Enforcement Administration and IRS-Criminal Investigation conducted the investigation. The Justice Department's Office of International Affairs and Office of Judicial Attaché in Bogotá, Colombia, provided significant assistance in this matter. The Justice Department's Office of International Affairs worked with law enforcement partners in Mexico to secure the arrest and August 2025 extradition of Castillo.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lance Watt and Amanda Gould prosecuted the case along with Trial Attorneys Keith H. Liddle and Stephanie Williamson of the Criminal Division's Money Laundering, Narcotics, and Forfeiture Section.