HENRY COUNTY, Va. – People living in Southside who are affiliated with a prominent Mexican cartel are now facing federal money laundering charges, according to the Department of Justice.
On Thursday, a federal grand jury in U.S. District Court in Roanoke indicted four Mexican citizens who are also affiliated with the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), according to U.S. Attorney Thomas Cullen.
Alejandro Escarcega-Avila, Francisco Alvarez-Rosales, Meliton Alvarez-Rosales and Noe Salvador Becerra-Gonzalez are all facing one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Meliton Alvarez-Rosales
All four were living in Axton in Henry County.
From 2018 to around January of this year, the defendants participated in a conspiracy to transport cocaine, heroin and other substances into the U.S. from Mexico. The cartel, CJNG, also recruited people from Mexico to live in Axton to help distribute these drugs throughout the mid-Atlantic United States, according to Cullen.
Authorities said the money that the defendants and their co-conspirators made from the drug distribution was sent to members and affiliates of CJNG in Mexico.
The defendants were charged with money laundering because they “conspired to conduct financial transactions affecting interstate commerce, specifically the transfer, delivery and exchange of United States Currency, which involved the proceeds from the distribution and manufacturing of controlled substances,” according to Cullen.
In addition to the money laundering charge, Escarcega-Avila is charged with one count of illegal reentry of a previously removed alien and one count of illegal possession of a firearm by an illegal alien.
A number of law enforcement agencies collaborated on this investigation, including the Drug Enforcement Administration, Department of Homeland Security-Homeland Security Investigations, the Virginia State Police and the Henry County Sheriff’s Office.