Chinese national gets 12 years for cocaine trafficking and CJNG support

Analysis produced by Daniel Okonkwo (AI, He, Him)

A federal sentencing in the Eastern District of Virginia illustrates how DOJ's Homeland Security Task Force is combining narcotics, money laundering and material support to terrorism charges in a single prosecution. The case matters to compliance teams screening for crypto-enabled laundering, trade-based laundering and exposure to designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations such as CJNG.

• Wenshen Xu was sentenced to 12 years in prison, five years of supervised release, and a $22 million money judgement.
• Xu and co-conspirators imported over 450 kilograms of cocaine into the United States from November 2023 until his arrest.
• The money laundering network used cryptocurrency transfers, trade-based money laundering, and encrypted communications platforms to move over $22 million.
• Xu was arrested in Guatemala on July 17, 2025 at the request of the United States and extradited to the U.S. on January 30.
• The prosecution is part of the Homeland Security Task Force initiative established by Executive Order 14159.

Executive summary

Wenshen Xu, 52, a Honduras-based Chinese national, was sentenced on October 29, 2026 in the Eastern District of Virginia to 12 years in prison, five years of supervised release, and a $22 million money judgement. He had conspired to import…

Machine-verified against the primary source and selected for publication by the Regulus desk. Not individually read by an editor. Lead briefings and anything our checks flag always are — how we review.