(Jamaica Gleaner) Five properties valued at millions of dollars and three motor vehicles were among several assets seized yesterday as local and American law-enforcement agencies mounted a coordinated crackdown on an international money-laundering ring.
The Police High Command reported that personnel from the Organised Crime Investigation Division working with the United States Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Financial Investigations Division and members of the Mobile Reserve conducted early-morning operations in areas of St Ann, Manchester and St James.
The main area of yesterday’s operations was Discovery Bay in St Ann.
Centre of operation
According to the police, the operations were centred on a money-laundering ring involving an American citizen with links to Jamaica.
The police did not disclose the identity of the person who they said was convicted in the US, but Gleaner sources identified her as a woman who travelled to Jamaica regularly.
She has been convicted of bulk cash smuggling and is also indicted on money-laundering and murder charges.
Local investigators believe the woman had a role in the smuggling of thousands of US dollars in drug proceeds into Jamaica.
That money was reportedly used to purchase real estate, motor vehicles and other assets.
Items seized yesterday include:
- Household appliances with an approximate value of J$6 million
- Three motor vehicles
- Five real-estate properties
- Cellphones
- Computers
- Documents relevant to the case.