2nd suspect arrested in ‘Operation Empty Nest’ drug money laundering bust: Cops

A second man has been arrested amid an undercover operation targeting drug money launderers in South Florida, authorities said.

Carlos Alberto DeSousa Cardozo, 25, was arrested Thursday on charges including money laundering and unauthorized money transmitter, Miami-Dade jail records showed.

Another man, 36-year-old Luis Radhames Cabral, was arrested Monday on charges including money laundering, acting as an unauthorized money transmitter, and conspiracy to act as an unauthorized money transmitter, records showed.

The arrests are part of “Operation Empty Nest,” which involves the South Florida Financial Crimes Task Force and is targeting drug money launderers in South Florida.

According to an arrest report, DeSousa Cardozo was identified by investigators as a drug money launderer and cryptocurrency broker.

During an undercover operation on Aug. 6, he was seen receiving a delivery of bulk cash from two known drug money launderers, the report said.

The two suspects, which included Cabral, were later stopped and found with $756,595 in cash wrapped in rubber bands and in vacuum sealed plastic bags, the report said.

One of the suspects said DeSousa Cardozo had picked up two bundles from him containing a total of $80,000 which was payment for a cryptocurrency transaction that DeSousa Cardozo was brokering, the report said.

The suspect said the money “was likely from illicit origins,” the report said.

A records check showed DeSousa Cardozo doesn’t possess a money service business license compliant with the state of Florida or the federal government, the report said.

He was booked into jail and expected in bond court on Friday.

Cabral appeared before a judge on Tuesday who set his bond at $500,000.