A former high-ranking Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) agent who oversaw the agency’s financial operations is now facing criminal charges for allegedly agreeing to launder millions of dollars in narcotics proceeds for an ultra-violent Mexican drug cartel, according to an indictment that was unsealed on Friday in a Manhattan federal court.
Paul Campo, a 25-year veteran of the DEA, has been indicted alongside longtime friend Robert Sensi in connection with a plot to launder money for one of Mexico’s most ruthless cartels. The charges, unsealed on December 5, 2025 in the Southern District of New York, accuse the duo of narcoterrorism, narcotics trafficking, and money laundering in support of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), a group recently branded a foreign terrorist organization (FTO) by the U.S. State Department.
Campo, age 61, of Oakton, Virginia, and Sensi, age 75, of Boca Raton, Florida, were arrested on December 4, 2025.
The indictment alleges that between approximately November 2024 and December 2025, Campo and Sensi engaged in multiple recorded meetings with a confidential source (CS-1) who represented himself as a CJNG operative. During these meetings, the two men are alleged to have agreed to launder upwards of $12 million for the cartel.
It further alleges that they agreed to finance the purchase of 220 kilograms of cocaine — valued at roughly $5 million — in exchange for a percentage of the profits and additional laundering commissions. They also agreed to provide advice on fentanyl production methods and discussed sourcing military-grade weapons, including AR-15 rifles, M4 carbines, M16 rifles, grenade launchers, rocket-propelled grenades, and commercial drones modified to carry explosives, according to the indictment.
The defendants are alleged to have repeatedly referenced Campo’s prior role as Deputy Chief of the DEA’s Office of Financial Operations as a basis for their ability to assist CJNG with money laundering and to provide sensitive information about DEA investigations. Campo had served in the senior role with the agency prior to his retirement in 2016.
BREAKING – The DEA’s chief financial director under Obama, Paul Campo, who resigned in 2016 ahead of Trump’s administration, had his Virginia home raided and has been charged for agreeing to launder $12 million for the CJNG, a Mexican cartel, while acting in his role at the DEA. pic.twitter.com/KL0tz6RsBn
— Right Angle News Network (@Rightanglenews) December 5, 2025
“As alleged, Paul Campo and Robert Sensi conspired to assist CJNG, one of the most notorious Mexican cartels that is responsible for countless deaths through violence and drug trafficking in the United States and Mexico,” said U.S. Attorney Paul Clayton. “By participating in this scheme, Campo betrayed the mission he was entrusted with pursuing for his 25-year career with the DEA.”
Both Campo and Sensi are charged with conspiring to commit narcoterrorism, which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years in prison and a maximum of life imprisonment; conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine, which carries a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison and a maximum of life imprisonment; conspiring to provide material support or resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization (CJNG), which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison; and conspiring to commit money laundering, which also carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
“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 to the fullest extent of the law,” said DEA Administrator Terrance C. Cole.
“The alleged conduct occurred after he left DEA and was unrelated to his official duties here, but any former agent who chooses to engage in criminal activity dishonors the men and women who serve with integrity and undermines the public’s confidence in law enforcement.”
