Former High-Level DEA Official Charged With Narcoterrorism in Alleged Plot to Aid CJNG Cartel
Posted For: Rotorblade
A former Drug Enforcement Administration official has been arrested on federal charges including narcoterrorism, terrorism, narcotics distribution, and money laundering.
U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Jay Clayton and DEA Administrator Terrance C. Cole announced the unsealing of an indictment charging Paul Campo and Robert Sensi in connection with an alleged scheme to aid the Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG). Both men were taken into custody in New York.
Campo served with the DEA for roughly 25 years, beginning as a Special Agent in New York and eventually becoming Deputy Chief of the Office of Financial Operations. He retired from the agency in January 2016. The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Paul G. Gardephe.
Clayton said the defendants are accused of conspiring to assist CJNG—one of Mexico’s most violent and powerful cartels—by laundering money, facilitating drug trafficking, and offering financial expertise to support cartel operations. “By participating in this scheme, Campo betrayed the mission he was entrusted with pursuing for his 25-year career with the DEA,” Clayton said.
CJNG, led by Nemesio Ruben “El Mencho” Oseguera-Cervantes, controls a major share of the Mexican narcotics trade and traffics cocaine, fentanyl, methamphetamine, and other drugs into the United States. The U.S. Secretary of State formally designated CJNG as a Foreign Terrorist Organization on February 20, 2025.
DEA Administrator Cole emphasized that the alleged conduct occurred after Campo left the agency but said that any former official who engages in criminal behavior “dishonors the men and women who serve with integrity.”
According to prosecutors, in late 2024 Sensi met with a confidential source posing as a cartel member and claimed he had a former DEA associate with expertise in financial operations who could assist CJNG. Investigators say that Campo and Sensi later met with that source repeatedly, offering to launder drug proceeds through cryptocurrency and real estate and discussing methods for facilitating fentanyl production.
Prosecutors also allege the pair explored acquiring commercial drones and military-grade weapons—including AR-15s, M4 and M16 rifles, grenade launchers, and rocket-propelled grenades—for CJNG. During these meetings, both men allegedly emphasized Campo’s prior law-enforcement experience.
Authorities say Campo and Sensi ultimately agreed to launder about $12 million in cartel proceeds and successfully converted roughly $750,000 of cash into cryptocurrency. They also allegedly facilitated payment for approximately 220 kilograms of cocaine that would have entered distribution in New York, expecting to profit from both the sale of narcotics and the laundering of the proceeds.
Campo, 61, of Oakton, Virginia, and Sensi, 75, of Boca Raton, Florida, each face charges of conspiring to commit narcoterrorism; conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute cocaine; conspiring to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization; and conspiring to commit money laundering. Some charges carry mandatory minimum sentences of 10 to 20 years and potential maximum penalties of life in prison. Sentencing will ultimately be determined by the court.
The investigation received support from multiple U.S. Attorney’s Offices and the Justice Department’s National Security Division. The prosecution is being led by Assistant U.S. Attorney Varun A. Gumaste, with support from Trial Attorney James Donnelly of the Counterterrorism Section.
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