ATLANTA — The U.S. Department of Justice announced that a woman who led a multi-million dollar international money laundering and drug trafficking in the Atlanta are was convicted.
Monica Dominguez Torres, 36 of Mexico, entered a guilty plea in federal court on June 13.
The USDOJ said she faced charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
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“This conviction sends a strong message to those who think they can live a life of luxury funded by illegal activities,” Steven N. Schrank, the Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Georgia and Alabama, said. “Thanks to the dedicated collaboration between HSI and our law enforcement partners at the federal, state, and local levels, we were able to dismantle Monica Dominguez Torres’s multi-million dollar drug trafficking and money laundering ring, seizing millions in illicit proceeds and bringing her to justice.”
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Dominguez Torres led a transnational criminal organization that operated methamphetamine conversion labs in the Atlanta area and laundered millions of dollars of drug sale proceeds to Mexico.
Federal officials said Dominguez Torres operated labs where liquid meth, obtained from sources in Mexico, was brought to Atlanta and turned into hundreds of kilograms of crystal meth, then sold in the area.
The USDOJ said the operation was conducted in multiple homes around Atlanta before sending the money they made to coconspirators in Mexico.
Dominguez Torres and those working with her "purchased millions of dollars’ worth of real estate, vehicles, and luxury goods – all designed to conceal the illicit source of their wealth."
Investigators found that purchases included five different homes, one of which was a seven-bedroom waterfront property in Jonesboro. Three of the homes were bought with bulk cash directly.
Justice officials said Dominguez Torres and others also bought nine luxury vehicles worth a collective $780,000, spent $400,000 on Louis Vuitton products and $425,000 at Burberry over about 4.5 years.
As part of the investigation, federal agents seized $3.6 million in cash from Dominguez Torres’ residences, stash locations and associates, officials said.
When Dominguez Torres was arrested at her home in Conyers in February 2024, agents seized more than $1.7 million in cash, five guns and three vehicles.
Sentencing for Dominguez Torres is scheduled for Sept. 15. She faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison, though it could be a life sentence and a possibly up to a $10 million fine for the drug trafficking charges.
Separately, Dominguez Torres also face up to 20 years in prison and a potential $500,000 fine for her money laundering conviction.
The case remains under investigation by federal agents, including rom the Drug Enforcement Administration, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, the Georgia State Patrol, Cobb County and Paulding County sheriff’s offices and the FBI.
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