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Vegas real estate broker arrested for laundering drug money

Vegas real estate broker arrested for laundering drug money
Posted at 10:59 AM, Jul 02, 2018
and last updated 2018-07-02 14:16:52-04

Real estate broker Luis Eduardo Rodriguez is accused of funneling drug money through the Las Vegas real estate market and dummy corporations on behalf of an international narcotics and money laundering ring.

Rodriguez was arrested this morning in Las Vegas and will appear in federal court today.

Rodriguez faces charges for his role in laundering hundreds of thousands of dollars in drug money through Las Vegas real estate and multiple Nevada shell corporations with the intent on sending the profits to drug traffickers and money launderers in Mexico.  

The Department of Justice says Rodriguez also has ties to Italy and Hong Kong.

The criminal complaint alleges that Rodriguez worked at the direction of Jesus Rodriguez-Jimenez, the leader of an international money laundering and drug trafficking organization. In June 2017, Rodriguez-Jimenez pleaded guilty to laundering more than $250 million in drug money to cartels in Mexico and Central America.

Rodriguez used his real estate business to purchase, renovate, and sell homes in Las Vegas under the orders of Jesus Rodriguez-Jimenez. Jesus Rodriguez-Jimenez funded these transactions with drug money. During the first half of 2016, Rodriguez flipped at least three properties in for Jesus Rodriguez-Jimenez.

Rodriguez faces up to 20 years in prison on these charges.