Miami Courant

On July 29, Jordan Curry, 42, an Australian national from Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), pled guilty to participating in a conspiracy to launder money and import cocaine from South America through the United States to Australia.

According to the agreed-upon factual proffer, from 2019 to 2021, Curry led an international drug trafficking and money laundering organization. While based in Dubai, Curry partnered with other conspirators to launder drug proceeds and traffic in ton-size quantities of cocaine and methamphetamine from South America and Mexico to Australia and Europe. Further, Curry, his co-defendant, and other conspirators in Australia formed a commission of high-level drug traffickers to keep drug prices up. Once the cocaine arrived in Sydney, they distributed it to Melbourne. Curry discussed having full control of drug trafficking in Australia since it was their organization that controlled the trade in-country.

On June 28, 2019, Curry coordinated two separate cash drops in Greater Sydney, Australia. The total amount delivered by Curry via his couriers was $1,000,200 Australian Dollars (AUD) ($692,628.50 U.S. dollars (USD)). The money was sent to various U.S.-based bank accounts. Curry created a group chat on July 8, 2019, which included a co-conspirator in Colombia to coordinate the delivery of pesos in Bogota, Colombia. Between July 10 and July 25, 2019, there were six separate payouts in Bogota totaling $1,885,161,000 Colombian pesos given to couriers at the direction of Curry. Each time either Curry or his co-conspirator confirmed the payments were received. On July 23, 2019, Curry stated that he wanted to finalize laundering as quickly as possible to “get my job over the line” (to get a cocaine load released into the country).

Starting in 2020 during an undercover operation, Curry negotiated for a load of cocaine to be sent from Colombia through Mexico to the U.S., specifically Los Angeles and from there to Australia. Curry said he wanted “powder please bricks.” On April 8, 2021, Curry was set to receive 50 kilograms of cocaine for the first delivery. To obtain the cocaine, Curry planned to send a courier in Australia with the cash payment. He set up a group chat that included his money courier who sent photos of three duffle bags full of Australian dollars neatly bundled in rubber bands and sealed in cellophane wrap. Australian law enforcement conducted a traffic stop on the courier’s vehicle and discovered three bags containing $2,996,610 AUD (approximately $2,284,876 USD).

Curry is scheduled for sentencing on Oct. 16 before U.S. District Judge Cecilia M. Altonaga. He faces up to life imprisonment; Judge Altonaga will determine any sentence after considering US Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe for the Southern District of Florida and Special Agent in Charge Deanne L. Reuter of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Miami Field Division announced the plea.

The DEA Miami Field Division conducted this investigation with assistance from DEA Sydney Resident Office and Athens County Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Monique Botero prosecuted this case.

The U.S Attorney’s Office and DEA extended thanks to international law enforcement partners including Queensland Police Service; New South Wales Police Force; Western Australia Police Force; Australian Federal Police; Hellenic Police; Hellenic Republic Ministry of Justice; as well as Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs for their crucial assistance.

The indictment resulted from Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigations aimed at identifying and dismantling high-level criminal organizations threatening the US using a prosecutor-led multi-agency task force approach targeting command-and-control networks.

Members of South Florida High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Task Force carried out this case's prosecution efforts fostering intra-agency cooperation among federal state local law enforcement agencies tackling regional drug-related violent crime threats such as opioid epidemic fentanyl cocaine threat.

Related court documents can be found on District Court for Southern District Florida website www.flsduscourts.gov or http://pacer.flsduscourts.gov under case number 21-cr-20270.

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