An international perfume dealer was arrested in Manhattan and charged with laundering more than $25 million for Mexican drug cartels, the U.S. attorney said Tuesday.
The suspect, Virkam Datta, who owns numerous perfume stores along the U.S.-Mexican border in Texas, Arizona and California, was accused of accepting millions of dollars in cash from peso brokers and narcotics traffickers in exchange for the perfume he shipped to Mexico, according to officials. Once in Mexico, the perfume was allegedly sold to generate Mexican pesos.
“Mr. Datta tried to disguise his money laundering activity through his perfume business. However, DEA [Drug Enforcement Administration] New Jersey division revealed the putrid odor of his illegal criminal activity and eliminated his international money laundering scheme,” said John. McCabe Jr., DEA acting special agent-in-charge for the New Jersey division. McCabe estimated that for two years concluding this month, more than $25 million was deposited in bank accounts controlled by Datta and his co-conspirators.
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According to the complaint, which was filed in the Southern District of New York, Datta admitted to undercover agents that he laundered millions for the Sinaola Cartel, a narcotics trafficking operation which has been connected to the recent massacres and decapitations of rival gang members in Acapulco and other Mexican cities.
If convicted, Datta faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.