A federal grand jury has indicted seven foreign nationals — all of them illegal aliens — in a wide-ranging criminal conspiracy involving money laundering, drug trafficking proceeds, and illegal firearm possession.
The charges stem from a years-long operation allegedly led by Jose Malagon Castro, a Mexican national who brazenly ran three grocery stores in Kentucky as fronts to launder dirty cartel cash, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Kentucky.
His employees — Yeimi, Kenia, and Kelin Hernandez Barahona (all Honduran nationals), and Suri Rosmeri Hernandez Del Cid (a Guatemalan national) — allegedly helped wire drug proceeds back to Mexico, fueling the cartels profiting off America’s open borders.
According to the indictment, between January 2020 and December 2024, these foreign nationals engaged in an elaborate conspiracy involving millions of dollars’ worth of financial transactions to conceal the nature, location, and source of cartel drug money.
The operation not only violated federal and state reporting laws but also actively undermined public safety in Kentucky.
But the lawlessness didn’t end there. On December 4, 2024, Jose Malagon Castro — an illegal alien — was caught illegally possessing a dangerous stockpile of firearms, including a .357 Magnum revolver, multiple shotguns, and several rifles. Although prohibited from owning any weapons, Malagon Castro had amassed an expansive arsenal.
Of the seven defendants, five — Jose Malagon Castro, Yeimi Hernandez Barahona, Kelin Hernandez Barahona, Suri Rosmeri Hernandez Del Cid, and Jose Martin Romero — have already been arrested and appeared before a U.S. Magistrate Judge. Kenia Hernandez Barahona and Vanessa Avila Galaviz are still at large, with warrants issued for their arrests.
If convicted, the defendants face staggering maximum sentences — 475 years for Malagon Castro and 460 years for his co-conspirators — highlighting the gravity of their crimes.
Federal authorities are also seeking the forfeiture of more than half a million dollars seized in the investigation.
With no parole in the federal system, these individuals will spend the rest of their lives behind bars if justice is served.
WATCH:
NEW: 7 Illegal Aliens indicted, 5 arrested in Louisville for narcotics trafficking & money laundering millions in drug money to Mexico; fueling prostitution extortion & murder.
— Dapper Detective (@Dapper_Det) April 28, 2025
Every day spent litigating the rights of criminal aliens instead of deporting is killing Americans. pic.twitter.com/rP8GEPQwJi
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