Transnational money laundering network uncovered in U.S. indictment.

By The Bureau

Chinese money brokers in Georgia worked with Middle Eastern mafia cells in South Carolina to launder fentanyl cash collected across American cities for the Sinaloa and Jalisco cartels, converting the fatal drug proceeds into electronics goods shipped to Hong Kong and Dubai. The scheme formed part of a transnational pipeline that reveals a disturbing nexus between Chinese, Mexican, and Middle Eastern threat actors, an explosive indictment unsealed yesterday shows.

Summary

A federal indictment in South Carolina has exposed a sophisticated global money laundering network involving Chinese, Mexican, and Middle Eastern criminal groups, funneling drug proceeds from U.S. fentanyl and cocaine sales into international trade. 

Key actors include Nasir Ullah and Naim Ullah of South Carolina, along with Puquan Huang of Georgia, who are charged with laundering at least $30 million for the Sinaloa and Jalisco cartels [Sinoloa is considered the largest and most powerful drug trafficking organization in the Western Hemisphere; Jalisco is a transnational Mexican criminal syndicate]. Huang, linked to Chinese underground banks, coordinated cash collection for Middle Eastern mafia cells, while Mohammad Azam Khan—father of the Ullahs and a fugitive based in Dubai—managed the Hong Kong-to-UAE laundering segment of the operation.

Relying on trade-based laundering, the network is accused of converting drug cash into electronics shipped to Hong Kong and Dubai, where resale generated “clean” profits. Chinese brokers facilitated sales through informal exchanges and false invoices, bypassing official financial systems. Authorities seized hundreds of millions in cash between 2021 and 2024 across North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina. The DEA estimated one intercepted cash haul of approx. $177,000 could have financed 7 kilograms of raw fentanyl (enough to press between 3.5–7 million counterfeit pills).

Geographically, the operation exploited Buford, Georgia, and towns along the I-95 corridor for anonymity and logistics, while global hubs (Hong Kong, Dubai, and Mexican border cities) mirrored prior laundering patterns seen in cases involving Altaf Khanani and Cameron Ortis, the ex-RCMP official convicted of leaking intelligence to Hezbollah-linked syndicates.

Broader implications suggest Chinese state-aligned involvement through Triad networks with potential diplomatic ties, while collaboration between cartels, Middle Eastern cells, and Chinese brokers highlights a dangerous nexus of narcotics, terror finance, and transnational crime. The case underscores systemic vulnerabilities in combating trade-based laundering and the urgent need for cross-border coordination to dismantle hybrid criminal-state networks.

Read the report at the publisher’s website here.