$3 billion seized by the IRS Criminal Investigation: These are some of the drug dealers that got busted
The IRS announced how much progress it has made with new initiatives to recover billions of dollars from high-income individuals, drug dealers and cybercriminals.
The Internal Revenue Service is ending 2024 with a bang. The report issued by the IRS is good news for US taxpayers as $4.7 billion have been recovered thanks to new initiatives targeting high-wealth individuals and criminals, who have not declared income since 2017. For law-abiding citizens it’s good news, but for some people trying to defraud the government, it’s a completely different story.
Three IRS Criminal Investigation cases
The IRS-CI investigates tax and financial crimes and in 2024 identified an amount over $9.1 billion in fraud and so far criminal assets totalling nearly $1.2 billion have been seized. Here are some of the cases that IRS has published that include assets seized from drug dealers and money launderers:
Jason Brown was sentenced to 18 years in federal prison for trafficking fentanyl. Brown attempted to provide material support to ISIS and on three occasions gave $500 in cash to a person understanding that the funds would be wired to an ISIS soldier in Syria. Undercover law enforcement intercepted the money and Brown was also charged with trafficking fentanyl and other drugs to Chicago from California.
Drug dealer George Pherai-Bogeajis was sentenced to 19 years and 7 months in federal prison for conspiring to distribute methamphetamine and fentanyl and possessing firearms in furtherance of drug trafficking. As part of the bust, investigators seized four vehicles and four firearms used in the offense, along with $867,265 of drug proceeds. Law enforcement seized nearly 50 kilograms of methamphetamine, thousands of grams of MDMA, more than two kilograms of cocaine and nearly a kilogram of other narcotics, including fentanyl at his Florida residence.
Florida man charged after 150 pounds of meth seized in largest bust in city's history George Andrew Pherai-Bogeajis, 35, was charged with possession with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine and could face life in prison if convictedhttps://t.co/T9d92XYIi9
— Maria Bonanno (@MariaBonanno9) April 27, 2024
Christian Grajeda-Varela was sentenced to nearly four years in prison for fentanyl trafficking and money laundering. The guilty party admitted to selling nearly 1.5 pounds of fentanyl to a drug dealer in San Francisco.
Miguel Grajeda Varela charged by @USAO_NDCA w/possession w/intent to distribute fentanyl near Ellis & Hyde in SF’s Tenderloin, per @FBISanFrancisco pic.twitter.com/sugOXu3i6v
— Henry K. Lee (@henrykleeKTVU) November 3, 2023
Federal agents found 109 grams of fentanyl, more than six pounds of mannitol, cocaine base, cocaine and heroin as well as drug distribution tools at Grajeda-Varela’s residence, who also admitted to laundering more than $200,000 in cash tied to the drug trade.
The #IRSCI FY24 Annual Report is here!
— IRS Criminal Investigation (@IRS_CI) December 5, 2024
“FY24 was one for the history books. For years, IRS-CI has been known as the agency that took down Al Capone, but this year, our cases hold their own place in U.S. history,” said IRS-CI Chief Guy Ficco.https://t.co/8D3MJhNZgg
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These are just three of many cases conducted by the IRS-CI with successful results. In many cases information was provided by whistleblowers and in 2024 the RIS paid over $123 million to people who helped the agency collect millions of dollars of unreported income and tax fraud.
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