Chinese National learns sentence for laundering $62M in drug money for Mexican cartels

CHICAGO - A federal judge in Chicago has handed a Chinese national a 10-year prison sentence for laundering $62 million in drug money for Mexican traffickers.

Between 2016 and 2018, Haiping Pan worked with others to launder as much as $3 million a month in drug money. They orchestrated discreet cash pickups in cities like Chicago, New York and Los Angeles, followed by a complex series of currency exchanges between the U.S., China, and Mexico.

Pan played a key role in the money-laundering operation, using his financial expertise and connections with Mexican cartel members to secretly move drug money through businesses and banks worldwide. In the end, the illegal profits made their way back to the traffickers in Mexico.

Throughout the scheme, Pan and his accomplices carried out one to two cash pickups a week, with each haul ranging from $150,000 to $1 million. Altogether, Pan knowingly helped launder or attempted to launder about $62 million in drug money.

Pan, a 44-year-old Chinese national, managed the money transfers while living in Guadalajara, Mexico. He was arrested there and brought to the U.S. in 2022. On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman sentenced him to 10 years in prison during a hearing in Chicago federal court.

Several other money launderers were also convicted during the federal investigation, including Pan’s accomplices. Xianbing Gan received a 14-year prison sentence, while Huanxin Long was sentenced to five and a half years.