Early morning on Friday, a federal task force from multiple law enforcement agencies raided the home of Paul Campo, 61, in the upscale Washington, D.C., suburb of Oakton, Virginia. Mr. Campo is accused of attempted money laundering, cocaine trafficking, and trying to provide firearms to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, or Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG).
The CJNG is known as the most violent of all Mexican drug cartels. The organization faces charges of narcoterrorism, terrorism, narcotics distribution, and money laundering in the US and charges of murder in Mexico. Mr. Campo was a career Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agent. Serving as a Special Agent in New York before rising through the ranks. Campo was the Deputy Chief of the Office of Financial Operations, with a primary focus on drug cartel money laundering. He retired in 2016 after serving 25 years in the DEA. Mr. Campo went on to found Global Financial Consultants (GFC), which specializes in anti-money laundering and narcotics subject matter experts.
“The indictment of former Special Agent Paul Campo sends a powerful message: those who betray the public trust—past or present—will be held to account to the fullest extent of the law,” said DEA Administrator Terrance C. Cole. “The alleged conduct occurred after he left DEA and was unrelated to his official duties here, but any former agent who chooses to engage in criminal activity dishonors the men and women who serve with integrity and undermines the public’s confidence in law enforcement. We will not look the other way simply because someone once wore this badge. There is no tolerance and no excuse for this kind of betrayal.”
According to government officials, over the past year, Campo and his alleged criminal conspirator, Robert Sensi, 75, of Boca Raton, Florida, agreed to launder about $12 million in drug proceeds for the CJNG and to convert about $750,000 in cash into cryptocurrency. What the two men didn’t know was that the CJNG members they thought they were dealing with were actually working for the United States government. The two men also provided payment for 220 kilograms of cocaine. They believed cartel drug dealers would sell the drugs on American streets for around $5 million. The men expected that the cartel would give them a cut of the proceeds. The retired DEA agent also offered to be a “strategist” for the cartel.
The men also agreed to procure various other firearms and military equipment for the cartel. Campo and Sensi agreed to provide the CJNG with AR-15s, M4 carbines, grenade launchers, and rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs). They also agreed to supply those they believed to be cartel members with commercial drones. Mr. Sensi, who has a history of mail fraud, defrauding the government, and stealing $2.5 million, also agreed to supply an unnamed Middle Eastern country with military-grade helicopters.
This incident isn’t the first time former and current DEA agents have been arrested on serious charges. Over the last 10 years, 16 DEA agents have been convicted of various crimes. In the previous year, retired DEA agent Joseph Bongiovanni was convicted of taking $250,000 in bribes from the Mafia. In 2020, another agent named Fernando Gomez pleaded guilty to trafficking firearms and helping La Organizacion de Narcotraficantes Unidos avoid detection from law enforcement, picking up money for the drug ring, and improperly accessing DEA records about a cooperator he believed had information about the drug organization.
Another DEA agent, José Irizarry, was involved with Colombian cartels in 2022. He was involved in money laundering pick-ups. The DEA claims that Irizarry worked alone, but the man told the Associated Press (AP) that dozens of other federal agents, prosecutors, and informants were in on the scheme. They even called themselves “Team America.”
Campo and Sensi were both denied bond at a hearing in a New York court on Friday. Both men are facing decades in prison if convicted.
About John Crump
Mr. Crump is an NRA instructor and a constitutional activist. John has written about firearms, interviewed people from all walks of life, and on the Constitution. John lives in Northern Virginia with his wife and sons, follow him on X at @crumpyss, or at www.crumpy.com.
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