2 Arrested in Miami for Money Laundering, Used to Clean Drug Traffickers’ Cash using Cryptocurrency
Miami, FL: K-9 Spike can find cocaine, heroin, meth, MDMA, and cash that has been near a lot of drugs at the Miami International Airport.
Earlier this month, the dog was walking to the baggage claim area and sniffing bags. He told an officer about a black suitcase coming from Atlanta. Traffickers’s
Two suspects from Spain were caught as a result of the probe. A Delta Airlines flight brought Francisco Piriz-Perera to the airport. To pick him up, Fernando Heredia Mañas showed up in a car.
A officer said that they saw cash in a vacuum-sealed bag inside the luggage. Investigators from the South Florida Financial Crimes Strike Force said they were following them on April 16.
With a judge’s OK, detectives began searching their cell phones on April 17. On April 22, a digital evidence forensics examiner joined the probe.
Additionally, detectives questioned both of them. Piriz-Perera, who is 43 years old, said in the arrest report that he smuggles cash all over the United States and gets about 1.5% of each deal.
A car stop happened while the investigation was going on. Detectives said they found cash in a car that was checked by a dog. The cash was in quick-count bundles that Heredia Mañas, 43, said belonged to poker players.
The police report says that Heredia Mañas told them that “he picks up money” and “sells the money” for Tether (USDT), a cryptocurrency that is tied to the dollar.
He said over and over that Heredia Mañas “picks up money or tells [Piriz-Perera] to pick up money from people in different cities” and charges for the exchange.
Detectives say they arrested them on Monday and took more than $185,000, mostly in $20 bills.
Officers from Miami-Dade booked both of them at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center, where they stayed all night Tuesday.
Heredia Mañas and Piriz-Perera were both charged with illegally sending money, conspiring to send money illegally, laundering or transporting money, and laundering illegal profits.
His bond was $600,000, and he had to show the court that it wasn’t money he got from committing crimes. This wasn’t yet Piriz-Perera’s link.
The cases of Piriz-Perera and Heredia Mañas were set to be heard by Circuit Judge Carlos Humberto Gamez of Miami-Dade County and Circuit Judge Zachary N. James of the same judicial district.
