Drug Trafficker Sentenced To 46 Months In Prison For Fentanyl Distribution And Money Laundering

Press Release

Second Defendant Sentenced to 16 Months in Prison for Laundering Drug Proceeds Disguised As International Wire Transfers

OAKLAND - Christian Grajeda-Varela, a Honduran national who pleaded guilty to fentanyl trafficking and money laundering, was sentenced to 46 months in federal prison. The sentence was handed down by the Hon. Haywood S. Gilliam, Jr., United States District Judge.

Grajeda-Varela, 25, was charged by indictment on Aug. 2, 2023, and superseding information on July 15, 2024. He pleaded guilty on July 17, 2024 to distribution of 40 grams or more of fentanyl and to conspiracy to launder monetary instruments.

In his plea agreement, Grajeda-Varela admitted that he sold roughly 1.5 pounds of fentanyl in July 2023 to a drug dealer in the Tenderloin neighborhood of San Francisco. Upon a search of his Oakland residence, federal agents found 109 grams of fentanyl, over six pounds of mannitol (a common mixing agent used to cut or dilute fentanyl), cocaine base, cocaine, and heroin. Agents also found a kilogram press, cutting boards, and tools to cut drugs, supplies that Grajeda-Varela admitted using to dilute and assist with the distribution of drugs.

As described in court documents, multiple WhatsApp messages were found on Grajeda-Varela's phone containing international wire transfer receipts sent from America Latina, a money service business in Oakland. Grajeda-Varela admitted that, between March and August 2022, he agreed with someone he suspected was involved in the drug trade to commit money laundering by bringing large amounts of cash to America Latina. Specifically, Grajeda-Varela brought over $235,000 in cash to America Latina for the business to wire to recipients in Mexico and Honduras in the form of roughly 125 international wires. According to the plea agreement, each of these international wires was structured and transmitted in an amount below $3,000 to avoid mandatory customer information reporting requirements under federal law.

Grajeda-Varela admitted that he exchanged WhatsApp messages with a woman named "Griselda" who generally accepted the bulk cash he brought in and conducted the international wires for him at America Latina, and that receipts for wires America Latina sent between March and August 2022 were found on his phone as well as on the phone of Griselda Cancelada Liceaga, who owned America Latina.

Grajeda-Varela further admitted that he knew that the owners of America Latina were structuring the bulk cash into wires of less than $3,000 each that were sent under the names of uninvolved persons to make it appear that each wire was an unrelated family/friend remittance.

In a separately charged case, Griselda Cancelada Liceaga, 45, of Oakland, was sentenced to 16 months in federal prison. Liceaga's sentence was handed down by the Hon. Jeffrey S. White, Senior United States District Judge.

Liceaga was charged by criminal complaint on Aug. 30, 2022, and pleaded guilty to money laundering conspiracy on May 28, 2024. According to her plea agreement, while at her money service business America Latina, Liceaga sent multiple international wire receipts via WhatsApp between March and August 2022 to an individual arrested and prosecuted for drug trafficking. She further admitted to using the names of unrelated persons as the wire senders and did so with the intent to evade the $3,000 transaction reporting requirement under federal law.

According to her plea agreement, Liceaga was familiar with the reporting requirement because she had received anti-money laundering training from the national wire service companies whose wire services she used. Liceaga further admitted that prior to opening America Latina, she had worked at another Oakland money service business, Rincon Musical, where she and her co-workers agreed to structure large cash amounts into wire transactions that were each less than $3,000 that they sent out under the names of unrelated persons.

"We are committed to working with our law enforcement partners to use all tools at our disposal to combat the drug trade in the Northern District of California and beyond," said United States Attorney Ismail J. Ramsey. "Along with drug traffickers, individuals who engage in and enable the laundering of drug proceeds will be held accountable."

"Dismantling the profitability of deadly drug trafficking in our communities makes our streets safer and is a core capability of IRS-CI Special Agents. These sentencings highlight the effectiveness of Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force investigations and the relentlessness in which we pursue those perpetuating the lethal drug epidemic," said IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) Oakland Field Office Acting Special Agent in Charge Michael Mosley. "Our Special Agents follow the money. When the money leads us to transnational criminal organizations, we build cases that take those criminals off the streets and puts them behind bars."

"This decisive action, taken in collaboration with our law enforcement partners, disrupts the flow of dangerous drugs and eliminates the financial networks that make this crime possible," said Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Special Agent in Charge Robert Tripp. "Those who choose to profit from poisoning our communities and endanger public safety will be held accountable. We remain resolute in our mission to dismantle these threats and ensure that justice is served."

"The cartels would be out of business without drug distributors and money launderers. Christian Grajeda-Varela and Griselda Cancelada Liceaga blatantly violated the law to line their pockets with ill-gotten gains," said Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Special Agent in Charge Bob P. Beris. "We will be relentless in our pursuit of those who put poison in our community and skirt the law by structuring payments of drug proceeds."

The announcements were made by United States Attorney Ismail J. Ramsey, IRS-CI Oakland Field Office Acting Special Agent in Charge Michael Mosley, FBI Special Agent in Charge Robert Tripp, and DEA Special Agent in Charge Bob P. Beris.

These prosecutions are part of Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigations. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.

Assistant United States Attorneys Charles Bisesto and Daniel Pastor prosecuted these cases with assistance from Amanda Martinez and Andy Ding. The prosecution of Grajeda-Varela is the result of an investigation by the FBI and IRS-CI with assistance from the DEA and the Concord Police Department. The prosecution of Cancelada Liceaga is the result of an investigation by IRS-CI and DEA with assistance from the Oakland Police Department.

Updated October 7, 2024