KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Three Kansas City area business owners are among 44 people who've been indicted on a drug trafficking conspiracy worth $4.7 million.
The U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Missouri's office announced the indictments on Thursday.
Ana Lilia Leal-Martinez, Ana Poala Banda and Maria de Lourdes Carbajal all own money wiring businesses.
The three are accused of laundering money related to the drug trafficking of more than 335 kilograms of meth and 22 kilograms of heroin.
Federal agents also believe they transferred the money through their businesses on behalf of a drug trafficking organization based in Michoacán, Mexico.
Leal-Martinez is the owner of Imagen Leal located in Olathe, Banda owns La Bendicion 2 in Kansas City, Kansas, and Carbajal owns Azteca Imports located in Overland Park.
The trio are accused of participating in the conspiracy from Feb. 28, 2020, to June 1, 2022.
Investigators said they found numerous instances of wire transfers that were sent under an alias name at the three businesses from a time span from January to June of this year.
In those cases, the wire transfers totaled $138,914. Investigators believe that number only represents a small portion of money wired to Mexico.
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