SIERRA VISTA- Two Sierra Vista men were arrested Tuesday, after an 11-month investigation into illegal drug money being laundered through multiple bank accounts.
According to SVPD Corporal Scott Borgstadt, the investigation into 44-year-old Juan Ramirez started in 2013, when Ramirez became the focus in a cross-country drug trafficking operation.
Ramirez had people in Fort Wayne, Indiana 'funnel' drug money back to him through various bank accounts, Borgstadt said.
Borgstadt said Ramirez laundered more than $215,000 in illicit drug money.
On Wednesday, SVPD, along with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations, Border Patrol, the Arizona Attorney General's Office, and the Cochise County Sheriff's Office raided two locations in Sierra Vista, one on Bella Vista Drive and another on Barataria Boulevard.
Ramirez and Miguel Nucico, 71, were arrested in the raids, Borgstadt said.
Ramirez was charged with 34 counts of money laundering, illegally conducting an enterprise,and participating in a criminal syndicate. He has also been charged with two counts of solicitation to commit money laundering, and two counts of solicitation to transport marijuana for sale.
Nucico has been charged with nine counts of money laundering, illegally conducting an enterprise, and participating in a criminal syndicate.