Police bust condo money laundering scheme

Spanish drug lord Álvaro López Tardón
Spanish drug lord Álvaro López Tardón

Spanish drug lord Álvaro López Tardón was busted in Miami for using high-priced condos to launder $20 million in dirty euros.

López Tardón was the head of a cocaine ring dubbed “Los Miami,” and he used his ill-gotten gains to buy 13 bayfront condos, including a $1 million-plus penthouse at the Continuum in South Beach, according to the Miami Herald.

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“If you want to follow the little drug dealer, you follow the drugs. If you want to follow the big drug dealer, you follow the money,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Tony Gonzalez told jurors. “He’s a really, really big drug dealer who made the mistake of moving his money into the United States.”

In addition to condos, López Tardón’s buying frenzy included about $1 million worth of Audemars Piguet watches, and 17 luxury cars, including a 2008 black Bugatti Veyron for $1.2 million and a 2003 black Ferrari Enzo for almost $1 million. [Miami Herald] Christopher Cameron