An investigation into an operation to launder money for Mexican drug cartels through businesses in the Los Angeles fashion district led federal authorities on Friday to post seizure notices on three homes, including a Pasadena mansion worth about $8 million.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office moved to seize the homes because they were allegedly purchased with laundered funds.
Hundreds of federal agents swarmed through the downtown district on Wednesday, arresting nine people and seizing $65 million.
The “Operation Fashion Police” raids coincided with the unsealing of three federal indictments, one of which alleges that a Fashion District business was laundering ransom money payments made to secure the release of a U.S. citizen who was kidnapped and tortured in Mexico by the Sinaloa drug cartel.
Federal prosecutors said other Fashion District stores were being used to launder money from drug traffickers and other offenders in what is known as a “Black Market Peso Exchange” scheme.
In addition to the 8,000-square-foot home at 1500 Lombardy Road in Pasadena, authorities are seeking to seize a residence at 3750 Mayfair Drive in Pasadena and another at 1117 N. Almansor St. in Alhambra. The latter two homes are worth about $2 million combined, and the two in Pasadena have fully-paid mortgages, according to ICE.
