Brenda Barreraa Guatemalan who in a few years expanded a chain of stores in USAface a serious accusation: Wash 18.5 million dollars from drug trafficking.
The US Department of Justice investigated the movements since Barrera opened its first premises in “The popular” In the summer of 2020 in Oregon, offering Latin American products and services Sending remittances.
Its rapid expansion with branches in Oregon and Washington caught his attention, because it was driven by Aggressive promotional campaigns in social networks, raffles and gifts.
However, the US Department of Justice. Barrera’s success was not only due to its commercial strategies.
Local media expanded that, according to the criminal accusation, their businesses were used to wash money from traffickers operating in Portland and nearby areas.
The authorities indicate that Barrera It charged a 10% commission for each illicit transferwhat would have generated US $ 1.8 million in profits.
To avoid the tracking of the authorities, made multiple shipments of less than US $ 1,000, using false names and homes. These illicit operations would have occurred between 2021 and 2024.
During that period, Its five businesses sent more than US $ 89 million to Latin American countriesand hid the dirty money between legitimate transactions.
The investigation was strengthened with the collaboration of two drug traffickers who became informants for the National Security Research Unit.
In addition, two undercover agents, Making a cartel messengers, they delivered US $ 10,000 in cash to Barrera in the parking lot of a departmental store.
In April 2025, Brenda Barrera was arrested. Federal agents searched three places of the popular and their residence in Oregon, where they found US $ 120 thousand in cash.
This case is not isolated. In recent years, several business owners of remittances in the US have been accused of participating in similar schemes to launder money from Mexican cartels.
Now, Brenda Barrera faces a federal money laundering office, a possible sentence of up to 20 years in prison and his deportation to Guatemala.