Colombian Charged with Money Laundering for Allegedly Receiving SWIFT Bank Transfers Related to Drug-Trafficking

A Colombian was charged with money laundering last week for allegedly receiving some $1.5 million USD in payments related to cocaine trafficking in his bank account through the international SWIFT interbank transaction system, according to the country’s attorney general.

In a statement, the office of the attorney general said that Eudes Javier Nieto Clavijo, who was apprehended in the city of Bucaramanga, was involved in a drug-dealing operation that shipped narcotics to the Caribbean in speed boats. It has evidence that his bank account received funds via SWIFT from the United States, Spain, China, and Hong Kong, according to law enforcement.

The “sum was received, hidden, and later incorporated into the national financial system under the auspices of a structure that facilitated the laundering of illegal assets,” stated the attorney general’s office..

Colombian authorities believe that Nieto is linked to a large drug-trafficking network that has been operating for more than a decade. At least 84 alleged members of the organization have been captured and extradited since 2005, according to the attorney general.

(Photo credit: Valerie Everett)