US DoJ links cartel logistics to crypto and trade-based laundering, securing a guilty plea from a Chinese national tied to CJNG-linked drug proceeds

Xizhi Li, a Honduras-based Chinese national extradited from Guatemala, pleaded guilty to cocaine importation, money laundering and material support offences connected to the CJNG cartel. DOJ says he helped import more than 450 kilograms of cocaine and coordinated the laundering of more than $22 million in drug proceeds using cryptocurrency, trade-based laundering and encrypted communications.