A Colombian man, Michael Nuñez Daza, has been sentenced to five years in prison in a Florida court for conspiring to launder money derived from drug trafficking, with operations in Colombia, Mexico, and the United States. The Department of Justice reported that the 49-year-old, alias 'Lucky', led a transnational money laundering organization and coordinated the collection of large sums of cash from drug trafficking in several U.S. cities, primarily from Mexico. Over an eight-month period in 2017 and 2018, Nuñez Daza laundered at least $1.2 million for Mexican criminal organizations. After collecting the funds in cash, they were deposited into bank accounts in the U.S. registered in the names of third parties—individuals and companies—before being transferred to Colombia. Within days, the same amount was delivered in cash, in Colombian pesos, in Cali to Nuñez Daza himself or his messengers. The Colombian had a prior record, having been convicted for conspiracy to distribute cocaine and deported to his country in 2004. With the new charges, he was charged in January 2023, extradited in 2025, and pleaded guilty last August.
