Administration

‘Superstar’ DEA agent accused of laundering more than $7M, officials say

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A Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agent once considered a “superstar” now stands accused of laundering more than $7 million in a scheme involving the cartel members he was supposed to take down in Colombia, The Associated Press reported on Tuesday. 

Five former and current law enforcement officials told the AP that Jose Irizarry allegedly conspired with a DEA informant to take money from drug cartel criminals in Colombia. 

Details of the case against Irizzary have emerged as Gustavo Yabrudi, the DEA informant, faces a federal case in Florida, according to the AP. Yabrudi has pleaded guilty to money laundering with assistance from an unnamed co-conspirator, who officials said was Irizarry.

Irizarry resigned from the DEA after he was recalled from Colombia in 2017, a DEA spokeswoman told the AP.

“He was the superstar everyone wanted to be,” a former law enforcement official told the AP.

Officials allege that Irizarry and Yabrudi opened a bank account where they stored money from drug traffickers who sought to send drug proceeds to Colombia. 

Yabrudi admitted withdrawing money from one of the accounts, which held more than $7 million, to a DEA agent. Officials told the AP that agent was Irizzary.  

Irizarry when he worked in in Miami, Fla. made a name for himself by arresting a significant number of people accused of drug trafficking. He was then moved to Colombia.

Prosecutors say Irizarry might have worked with Diego Marin, a top Colombian money-laundering suspect, during the scheme. Irizarry is married to one of Marin’s relatives, Nathalia Gomez. 

Investigators are looking into whether Irizarry was seeking to arrest Martin’s criminal rivals using his DEA authority, officials told the AP.

Irizarry’s current location is unknown.

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