NewsWhore
10-19-2009, 04:50 PM
The United States Embassy has sent the Attorney General three extradition requests for former Navy captain Rafael Heriberto Almonte Reyes, a.k.a. "El Gordo", who is linked to an money laundering operation and drug trafficking in the US. The network of drug traffickers of which Almonte Reyes has supposedly been a member since 2005, extends to Central America, Europe, North and South America. Almonte Reyes was arrested after the Penal Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice (SCJ) accepted a request from the Attorney General that requested the fusion of all three extradition requests. One of the files places Almonte Reyes together with the former Navy lieutenant Carlos Rosso Pena, former Navy major Miguel Antonio Suarez Silfa and other military personnel whose last names are Rodriguez and Gonzalez. The diplomatic note, Number 313, details the spectacular role the former officer is said to have played in the underworld. It says that Almonte Reyes is sought for trial in the Northern District of Georgia for money laundering and other crimes.
The document cites the fact that on 21 January 2009 he was accused together with 16 other associates by a Federal Grand Jury in the Southern District of Georgia, where three charges were drawn up: money laundering, willful association for the purpose of distributing cocaine and other controlled substances and private financial transactions in order to launder earning from the distribution of cocaine. The file establishes that Almonte was a member of the Black Market Press Exchange (BMPE) that is an illegal and unregulated money laundering system based on the business that allows Colombian money exchange dealers to change United States dollars and Colombian pesos for the dealers and drug exporters who want to by United States currency. "The drug traffickers that have a lot of US currency obtained through the sale of drugs in the United States are able to exchange dollars for local currency".
Based on the information, secret agents were able to identify the individuals who were working with Almonte Reyes as he carried out money laundering operations. The diplomatic note said that from February 2005 until 21 January of this year, the former military officer was involved in laundering money through the BMPE. He coordinated with a confidential source to pick up large amounts of dollars in Puerto Rico and the United States, cash from drug sales. The members involved handed over the cash to secret agents that transported and deposited the money in bank accounts in the United States, including Atlanta, Georgia. Almonte Reyes gave instructions on how to launder the funds, which were picked up on telephone conversations, faxes, in on-line chat rooms and e-mails. He established pick-ups and bank deposits of laundered money with co-conspirators in Panama.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#7)
The document cites the fact that on 21 January 2009 he was accused together with 16 other associates by a Federal Grand Jury in the Southern District of Georgia, where three charges were drawn up: money laundering, willful association for the purpose of distributing cocaine and other controlled substances and private financial transactions in order to launder earning from the distribution of cocaine. The file establishes that Almonte was a member of the Black Market Press Exchange (BMPE) that is an illegal and unregulated money laundering system based on the business that allows Colombian money exchange dealers to change United States dollars and Colombian pesos for the dealers and drug exporters who want to by United States currency. "The drug traffickers that have a lot of US currency obtained through the sale of drugs in the United States are able to exchange dollars for local currency".
Based on the information, secret agents were able to identify the individuals who were working with Almonte Reyes as he carried out money laundering operations. The diplomatic note said that from February 2005 until 21 January of this year, the former military officer was involved in laundering money through the BMPE. He coordinated with a confidential source to pick up large amounts of dollars in Puerto Rico and the United States, cash from drug sales. The members involved handed over the cash to secret agents that transported and deposited the money in bank accounts in the United States, including Atlanta, Georgia. Almonte Reyes gave instructions on how to launder the funds, which were picked up on telephone conversations, faxes, in on-line chat rooms and e-mails. He established pick-ups and bank deposits of laundered money with co-conspirators in Panama.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#7)