In a dramatic turn of events, a former senior agent of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), along with an accomplice, has been indicted on charges of conspiring to launder millions of dollars and procure military-grade weapons and explosives for a notorious Mexican drug cartel. The indictment, made public in New York on Friday, sheds light on an alarming breach of law enforcement integrity.

Paul Campo, aged 61, hailing from Oakton, Virginia, who retired from a distinguished 25-year career at the DEA in 2016, and Robert Sensi, 75, from Boca Raton, Florida, were ensnared in a law enforcement sting operation. This operation involved an informant who posed as a member of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), according to the prosecutors.

Earlier this year in February, the U.S. officially classified the CJNG as a foreign terrorist organization, underscoring the severity and reach of their criminal activities.

U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton expressed his dismay, noting that Campo had betrayed his career with the DEA by aiding a cartel implicated in numerous violent acts and drug trafficking operations in both the United States and Mexico. The gravity of the charges reflects the damaging impact of such collaboration with criminal entities.

Both Campo and Sensi were brought before a magistrate judge in New York on Friday afternoon. The judge ordered their detention without bail, and their attorneys entered not guilty pleas on their behalf, setting the stage for what promises to be a high-profile legal battle.

Campo’s lawyer, Mark Gombiner, called the indictment “somewhat sensationalized and somewhat incoherent.” He denied the two men had agreed to explore obtaining weapons for the cartel.

Prosecutors say pair talked of laundering money, obtaining weapons

Over the past year, Campo and Sensi agreed to launder about $12 million in drug proceeds for the cartel and converted about $750,000 in cash to cryptocurrency, thinking it was going to the group when it really went to the U.S. government, the indictment said. They also provided a payment for about 220 kilograms of cocaine they were told would be sold in the U.S. for about $5 million, thinking they would get a cut of the proceeds, prosecutors said.

The two men also said they would look into procuring commercial drones, AR-15 semiautomatic rifles, M4 carbines, grenade launchers and rocket-propelled grenades for the cartel, the indictment said.

Campo boasted about his law enforcement experience during conversations with the informant and offered to be a “strategist” for the cartel, authorities said. He began his career as a DEA agent in New York and rose to become deputy chief of financial operations for the agency, the indictment said.

Evidence in the case includes hours of recordings of the two men talking with the informant, as well as cellphone location data, emails and surveillance images, Assistant U.S. Attorney Varun Gumaste said in court Friday.

Sensi’s attorney, Amanda Kramer, unsuccessfully argued that Sensi should be freed while he awaits trial, saying he wouldn’t flee partly because he has multiple health problems, including injuries from a fall two months ago, early-stage dementia and Type II diabetes.

Sensi was convicted in the late 1980s and early 1990s of mail fraud, defrauding the government and stealing $2.5 million, said the prosecutor, Gumaste. He said evidence shows Sensi also was engaged in a scheme to procure military-grade helicopters for a Middle East country.

Other criminal cases have roiled the DEA

DEA Administrator Terrance Cole said in a statement that while Campo is no longer employed by the DEA, the allegations undermine trust in law enforcement.

Starting in 2021, the agency placed new controls on how DEA funds can be used in money laundering stings, and warned agents they can now be fired for a first offense of misconduct if serious enough, a departure from prior administrations.

Campo and Sensi are charged with four conspiracy counts related to narcoterrorism, terrorism, narcotics distribution and money laundering.

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