A Chinese national was sentenced Tuesday in the Western District of North Carolina by U.S. district judge Susan C. Rodriguez to 15 years in prison and ordered to forfeit $25 million for his role in a Chinese money laundering organisation (CMLO) that laundered over $92 million in illicit funds, including proceeds from the importation and distribution of illegal drugs into the United States, primarily through Mexico.
“Chinese money laundering networks have become a key enabler to the Mexican cartels,” said assistant attorney general A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.
According to court documents, Jianfei Lu, 31, of China, was a prolific courier of the CMLO.
He collected drug trafficking proceeds from U.S.-based drug traffickers and deposited the money, using both real and fake identities, into shell company bank accounts registered by other members of the CMLO. As a courier, Mr Lu personally picked up and deposited more than $20 million of illicit bulk cash.
Mr Lu also served as a manager for the CMLO. He coordinated directly with U.S.-based drug traffickers and dispatched other couriers to pick up and deposit bulk cash.
In addition, Mr Lu procured fake driver’s licences for the couriers, who used them to deposit illicit funds at major U.S. banks.
Approximately $670,000 of U.S. currency and 12 firearms were seized from a drug trafficking organisation that used the CMLO for money laundering services.
In July 2025, Mr Lu pleaded guilty to one count of money laundering conspiracy, two counts of money laundering to conceal the nature, location, source, ownership, and control of the illicit proceeds, and two counts of monetary transaction involving criminally derived property greater than $10,000.
In connection with his guilty plea, Mr Lu admitted that he had actual knowledge and involvement in laundering between $25 million and $65 million in illicit funds, and that he knew the laundered funds included drug trafficking proceeds.