Crime

4 Mass. residents charged in international drug trafficking scheme

11 men in total were charged with laundering more than $25 million in drug proceeds.

By Clara McCourt

1 minute to read

Eleven people — 4 of them from Massachusetts — were charged Thursday in connection with a money laundering and drug trafficking conspiracy, officials said.

The group allegedly conspired to distribute cocaine and MDMA across the greater Boston area, the country, and overseas. The scheme, led by Jin Hua Zhang of Staten Island, New York, laundered over $25 million in cryptocurrency.

“We allege that this group of individuals conspired to sell deadly narcotics in Massachusetts communities then laundered millions of dollars’ worth of their drug proceeds through a global network to conceal their illegal activity. Thanks to the incredible collaboration between federal, state and local law enforcement, this alleged large-scale criminal enterprise has been stopped in its tracks,” United States Attorney Rachael Rollins said in a statement. 

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After a months-long undercover investigation, authorities identified 10 men in Zhang’s operation, including Licheng Huang, 39, of Braintree; Feng Chen, 38, of Canton; Roger Luo, 35, of Winthrop; and Thong Nguyen, 28, of Saugus. 

Five of the men were arrested in Massachusetts and Rhode Island and appeared in a Boston federal court Thursday. Three will appear in New York, and three remain at large.

The men could face a minimum of 10 years to life in prison, at least five years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $10 million. The sentence lessens based on the quantity of cocaine distributed.

The FBI’s Boston Organized Crime Task Force conducted the investigation, assisted by the Massachusetts State Police, the Quincy Police, and a Florida police department. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christopher Pohl and Brian A. Fogerty of Rollins’ Criminal Division are prosecuting the case.

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