Ex-Obama Official Accused Of Helping Cartel Launder Millions

A former senior Drug Enforcement Administration official who served during the Obama years has been indicted after allegedly offering to help one of Mexico’s most violent cartels move cocaine inside the United States, launder millions in drug money, and even acquire military-grade weapons — all while leveraging his federal résumé, prosecutors revealed Friday.

Paul Campo, once the deputy chief of the DEA’s Office for Financial Operations, was arrested Thursday along with alleged accomplice Robert Sensi following a sweeping undercover sting. The operation involved a confidential source posing as a representative of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) — a ruthless criminal organization designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization in February 2025.

Campo, who spent roughly 25 years at the DEA before retiring in 2016, allegedly re-entered the criminal world in late 2024, when he and Sensi began meeting with the undercover operative as part of a broader federal effort to dismantle cartel activity.

According to federal prosecutors, Sensi initially told the confidential source he had a friend — Campo — who previously ran the DEA’s financial operations and could help launder cartel proceeds while sharing sensitive intelligence on federal investigations.

CJNG, headed by Nemesio Rubén “El Mencho” Oseguera Cervantes, traffics cocaine, methamphetamine, fentanyl, and other dangerous drugs into the U.S. while financing itself through mass-scale money laundering and cartel violence. It is one of the primary drivers of America’s fentanyl crisis, a key focus of President Donald Trump’s second-term law-and-order agenda.

Millions Laundered, Weapons Discussed, and Help Offered to Cartel Traffickers

According to the indictment, Campo and Sensi held multiple meetings with the undercover operative, where they allegedly agreed to launder approximately $12 million by converting bulk cash into cryptocurrency and pursuing real-estate investments as fronts.

Prosecutors say the pair didn’t stop at financial crimes. They also allegedly:

• Discussed fentanyl production
• Explored securing commercial drones and military-grade weapons
• Talked about obtaining AR-15s, M4s, M16s, grenade launchers, and rocket-propelled grenades for cartel operations

At one point, the undercover source described attaching explosives to drones — “we just send it over there, boom.”
Sensi reportedly replied a drone could carry “six kilograms of C-4,” enough to “blow up the whole f----- … I don’t want to say.”

Prosecutors say Campo and Sensi laundered $750,000 during the sting — money that ultimately flowed back to the U.S. government — and facilitated payment for 220 kilograms of cocaine, intended to be trafficked into the country, including New York City, for roughly $5 million in profit.

Indictment: Narcoterrorism, Cocaine Trafficking, Money Laundering, Support for Foreign Terrorists

Campo, 61, of Oakton, Virginia, and Sensi, 75, of Boca Raton, Florida, are charged with:

• Conspiring to commit narcoterrorism
• Conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute cocaine
• Conspiring to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization
• Conspiring to commit money laundering

Both pleaded not guilty and remain detained.

DEA Administrator Terrance C. Cole condemned Campo’s alleged actions in blistering terms.

“The indictment of former Special Agent Paul Campo sends a powerful message: those who betray the public trust — past or present — will be held to account,” Cole said.
“We will not look the other way simply because someone once wore this badge.”

U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton called CJNG “a violent criminal enterprise” and praised investigators for shutting down a corrupt former federal official turned alleged cartel asset.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly vowed to crush cartel infiltration of the United States — including targeting cartel financing networks, labeling major cartels as terrorist organizations, and ordering expanded joint operations with U.S. Southern Command.

This case reinforces his administration’s argument that cartel corruption has seeped so deeply into American institutions during prior administrations that it demands aggressive federal countermeasures.