A former Drug Enforcement Administration agent known for his expensive tastes and high-profile drug seizures has been implicated in a multimillion-dollar money-laundering conspiracy that involved the cartel criminals he was charged with fighting in Colombia, the Associated Press reports. A once standout agent, Jose Irizarry is accused of conspiring with a longtime DEA informant to launder more than $7 million in illicit drug proceeds, sometimes using an underground network known as the black-market peso exchange. Law enforcement officials described the case as one of the biggest black eyes in the history of the DEA, an agency that has seen repeated scandals, and one they fear could have compromised undercover operations in the U.S. and South America.
The conspiracy not only allegedly enriched Irizarry but is believed to have benefited a top South American money launderers, who is a relative of Irizarry’s Colombian wife. The allegations have sent shockwaves through DEA and drawn new scrutiny to the agency’s Colombia field office, a critical outpost that has been steeped in turmoil. The division has seen internal strife and turnover in leadership as it grapples with record-high levels of cocaine production. Some details emerged in a federal case in Tampa, Fl., which a former DEA informant, Gustavo Yabrudi, a dual Venezuelan-American citizen, pleaded guilty to money laundering. That case refers to an unnamed “co-conspirator 3,” a reference to Irizarry. It is unknown where the 44-year-old Irizarry is living, or whether he has been charged in the ongoing criminal probe.