A former high-level agent with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and an associate have been charged with conspiring to launder millions of dollars and obtain firearms and explosives for a Mexican drug cartel that has been designed as a foreign terrorist organization, according to an indictment unsealed Friday in New York City.

Paul Campo, 61, of Oakton, Virginia, who retired from the DEA in 2016 after a 25-year career, is facing four federal conspiracy charges related to alleged narcoterrorism, terrorism, narcotics distribution and money laundering. The same charges were lodged against his associate, Robert Sensi, 75, of Boca Raton, Florida.

The indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Manhattan accuses Campo and Sensi of making deals with a confidential source who posed as a member of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel but was really being directed by law enforcement officials. Secretary of State Marco Rubio designated the group, also known as CJNG, as a foreign terrorist organization in February.

Campo boasted about his prior law enforcement experience during conversations with the source, authorities said. He began his career as a DEA agent in New York and rose to become deputy chief of financial operations for the agency, the indictment said.

He and Sensi agreed to launder about $12 million in drug proceeds for the cartel and converted about $750,000 in cash to cryptocurrency for the group, the indictment says. They also provided a payment for about 220 kilograms of cocaine that they were told would be distributed and sold in the U.S. for about $5 million, and they would get a cut of the proceeds, according to the allegations.

They also said they would look into procuring commercial drones and military-grade weapons for the cartel, including AR-15 semiautomatic rifles, M4 carbines, grenade launchers and rocket-propelled grenades, the indictment alleges.

Messages were left at phone listings for Campo on Friday. Contact information for Sensi could not immediately be found. Court records did not list attorneys for them. Both were expected to appear in federal court in Manhattan on Friday afternoon.

“As alleged, Paul Campo and Robert Sensi conspired to assist CJNG, one of the most notorious Mexican cartels that is responsible for countless deaths through violence and drug trafficking in the United States and Mexico,” Jay Clayton, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in a statement. “By participating in this scheme, Campo betrayed the mission he was entrusted with pursuing for his 25-year career with the DEA.”

DEA Administrator Terrance Cole added in the same statement that while Campo is no longer employed by the DEA, the alleged activity dishonors current law enforcement officials and undermines public trust in law enforcement.

The DEA has been roiled in recent years by several embarrassing instances of misconduct in its ranks. The Associated Press has tallied at least 16 agents over the past decade brought up on federal charges ranging from child pornography and drug trafficking to leaking intelligence to defense attorneys and selling firearms to cartel associates, revealing gaping holes in the agency’s supervision.

Starting in 2021, the agency placed new controls on how DEA funds can be used in money laundering stings, and warned agents they can now be fired for a first offense of misconduct if serious enough, a departure from prior administrations.

____

Associated Press writer Joshua Goodman in Miami contributed to this report.

News from © The Associated Press, 2025