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Crime

Police charge 31-year-old male in connection to carjacking series

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3 minute read

March 21, 2019 @ 3:14 PM
The Edmonton Police Service has arrested and charged a 31-year-old male in connection to a series of violent carjackings that occurred in southeast Edmonton over the last two months.

Between February and March 2019, several violent carjacking robberies and assaults occurred in Southeast Division involving two male suspects. Investigators have since identified one of the suspects as being Mauricio Ladino, 31, of Edmonton.

A search warrant was executed at a southwest Edmonton residence near 4th Avenue SW and 75 Street yesterday, Wednesday, March 20, 2019, where Ladino was arrested and taken into custody.

Investigators’ search of that residence uncovered a firearm, ammunition and further evidence in connection to the most recent incident, a March 18th carjacking near 5th Avenue and 77 Street.

Ladino is facing 12 charges including robbery (x4), numerous firearms offencestheft under $5,000assault and possession of stolen property. A second male suspect is still being sought by police in connection to the carjacking series.

Police continue to look for two of the complainants’ vehicles, a red 2019 Kia Sportage, AB license # M58038, and a silver 2005 Chevy Cobalt, AB license # BVP 6483.

Anyone with information leading police to the whereabouts of these stolen vehicles, or the second suspect involved in these violent carjackings, is urged to contact the EPS at 780-423-4567 or #377 from a mobile phone. Anonymous information can also be submitted to Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or online at www.p3tips.com/250.

Background:
The Edmonton Police Service responded to several reports of carjackings with the first occurring on March 4, 2019, at approximately 7:30 p.m. Southeast Division officers responded to the parking lot of a business in the area of 23 Avenue and 24 Street.

On March 5, 2019, police again received reports of two additional carjackings in southeast Edmonton involving suspects of a similar description. The first incident occurred near 85 Street and 7 Avenue SW, with second incident occurring in a parking lot in the area of 70 Street and Stanton Dr. SW.

On March 18, 2019, it was reported to police that a male suspect with a firearm approached a male and female complainant sitting in their parked 2005 Chevy Cobalt near 5th Avenue SW and 77 Street. The suspect is then alleged to have assaulted the male driver of the vehicle, before threatening to shoot the complainants if they didn’t give him their vehicle. The complainants exited the vehicle, at which time the suspect reportedly fled the scene in the Cobalt.

Ladino has also since been charged for a similar incident that occurred back on Feb. 18, 2019, near Ellerslie Road and Edwards Drive, at approximately 3:30 p.m., involving an assault on a male complainant and an alleged theft of the complainant’s 2005 Jeep Liberty.

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Alberta

Bonnyville RCMP targeted by suspect driving a trackhoe

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From Bonnyville RCMP

On May 3, 2025, at approximately 6:55 p.m., a male suspect drove a stolen trackhoe into the parking lot of the Bonnyville RCMP. The suspect dumped several boulders in front of the prisoner bay and then proceeded to damage 5 police vehicles, which were parked in the lot. The suspect then fled on foot.

Bonnyville RCMP, Police Dog Services and RPAS (drone), searched for the suspect and he was quickly located in a tree line just north west of the detachment. He was arrested and is currently in custody pending a Judicial
Interim Release Hearing.  

The suspect cannot be named at this point as the charges have not been sworn before the courts. An updated media release is expected in the coming days.

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Crime

Operation Take Back America Strikes Chinese Money Launderers in Charlotte Cartel Case

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Sam Cooper's avatar Sam Cooper

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Striking a cell capable of washing $100 million within what U.S. counter-narcotics officials describe as a half-trillion-dollar global enterprise, federal prosecutors have secured convictions against three men tied to a China-based transnational laundering syndicate, exposing how Mexican cartel drug proceeds flowed quietly through Charlotte banks as overdose deaths surged across the Carolinas.

The case, centered in Charlotte, North Carolina, reveals the concealed infrastructure enabling Mexican cartels to convert fentanyl profits into clean capital, aided by sophisticated Chinese professional launderers operating like underwriters and rogue accountants—embedding illicit funds in regional banks using fake identities and a dense lattice of shell companies.

Prosecutors say Maoxuan Xia, 29, of China; Shao Neng Lin, 58, of Baldwin Park, California; and Zhou Yu, 42, of China, laundered more than $92 million in drug proceeds through this underground system. Court records show the trio used false documentation and coordinated deposits to move over $700,000 through Charlotte-area financial institutions alone.

Donald Im, a former top DEA illicit finance expert, said the system is designed so that all roads ultimately lead to Beijing’s treasury—with narcotics proceeds flowing back to China through laundering networks, while cartels handle the production and distribution of synthetic opioids sourced from Chinese factories.

The Charlotte case offers a rare, granular view into how that system functions on the ground. Xia served as a primary collector, retrieving cash from cartel-linked operatives across the United States. In less than two years, he laundered over $30 million. Lin and Yu operated back-end accounts, managing shell firms that each moved approximately $20 million. All three men entered guilty pleas this spring.

Investigators describe the laundering structure as part of a wider financial ecosystem anchored in Chinese underground banking hubs—active in cities such as Vancouver, Toronto, Mexico City, New York and Los Angeles. These operations pair U.S. drug money with Chinese nationals looking to move renminbi out of the mainland, exploiting capital flight demand to create an opaque, dollar-based network of cash flow. Funds are then reinvested in electronics exports, real estate, and layered wire transfers—largely beyond the reach of Western regulators.

The Charlotte convictions come amid a regional overdose emergency. In 2023, South Carolina reported 44.7 overdose deaths per 100,000 residents, far exceeding the U.S. average of 31.3. Georgia recorded 2,687 overdose deaths in 2022, a 300 percent increase since 2010. In North Carolina, more than 36,000 people have died from drug overdoses since 2000, with over 4,000 deaths recorded in 2021 alone. Fentanyl now accounts for nearly 80 percent of opioid fatalities in the Carolinas.

Taken together, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Georgia form one of the most intensely affected overdose corridors in North America. Only British Columbia—where Vancouver’s urban fentanyl crisis remains in declared emergency—and West Virginia report comparably higher death rates. British Columbia recorded 48.5 overdose deaths per 100,000 residents in 2024; West Virginia reached 80.9 per 100,000 in 2022.

A parallel indictment in South Carolina, unsealed in April, further illustrates China’s financial blueprint. Prosecutors charged Nasir Ullah, 28, and Naim Ullah, 32, of Sumter, along with Puquan Huang, 49, of Buford, Georgia, with laundering millions in cartel-linked proceeds. According to court filings, the men concealed cash in Sumter-area properties before converting it into overseas electronics shipments to Hong Kong and Dubai. Investigators allege the group was linked to broader laundering cells stretching into Asia and the Middle East.

While no financial institutions were charged in the Charlotte case, the use of fraudulent documents and synthetic identities to move large sums underscores continuing vulnerabilities in U.S. bank compliance systems—particularly in regional markets where oversight mechanisms may lag behind the sophistication of illicit finance networks.

The case was prosecuted under Operation Take Back America, a multi-agency U.S. initiative focused on dismantling the financial backbone of transnational fentanyl trafficking. Officials involved say targeting launderers may yield more strategic disruption than intercepting drug shipments alone—striking directly at the revenue pipelines keeping the trade alive.

Im, who led transnational threat targeting units within DEA’s Special Operations Division, has long studied the convergence of criminal enterprise and state-sanctioned economic leverage. In his assessment, Chinese laundering brokers serve both cartel clients and parallel financial objectives of the state—helping the proceeds of Western fentanyl sales find their way into Belt and Road infrastructure loans, real estate portfolios, and capital-export schemes tied to China’s global influence-building.

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