A former high-level Drug Enforcement Administration official who served during then-President Barack Obama’s administration, believed he was helping a Mexican cartel move cocaine in the United States and offered to launder millions of dollars for the organization, federal prosecutors said Friday.

Paul Campo, who worked his way up to become the DEA’s deputy chief of the Office for Financial Operations, and his alleged accomplice, Robert Sensi, were arrested Thursday after being caught in an undercover sting involving a confidential source posing as a member of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, The New York Post reported.

Campo served with the DEA for roughly 25 years before retiring in 2016. According to prosecutors, Campo and Sensi began interacting with the undercover operative in late 2024 as part of a larger investigation targeting cartel activity.

Sensi allegedly told the source he had a friend who previously oversaw the DEA’s financial operations division and could provide valuable help with laundering cartel drug proceeds and sharing sensitive information about federal probes.

Prosecutors said the confidential source was working under the direction of law enforcement and represented himself as a member of CJNG, a Mexico based transnational criminal group overseen by Nemesio Ruben “El Mencho” Oseguera Cervantes.

CJNG traffics cocaine, methamphetamine, fentanyl, and other controlled substances into the United States while also engaging in money laundering and violence, according to the indictment. The group was formally designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization on February 20, 2025.

After their initial contacts, Campo and Sensi met repeatedly with the undercover operative.

According to the indictment, both men agreed to launder money by converting cash into cryptocurrency and pursuing potential real estate investments.

Prosecutors said the pair also discussed fentanyl production and explored the possibility of securing commercial drones and military grade weapons for the cartel.

The indictment states that the weapons discussed included AR-15 rifles, M4 carbines, M16 rifles, grenade launchers, and rocket propelled grenades.

Campo and Sensi often emphasized Campo’s DEA background and financial expertise during the meetings.

In one conversation, the undercover source explained, “what we do with the drones, we put explosives and we just send it over there, boom,” to which Sensi later responded that a drone could carry roughly six kilograms of C-4 explosive, adding it was enough to “blow up the whole f—— . . . I don’t want to say.”

According to prosecutors, Campo and Sensi agreed to launder approximately $12 million in narcotics proceeds and laundered $750,000 as part of the operation.

The money was converted from cash into cryptocurrency but ultimately flowed to the U.S. government as part of the sting.

The indictment also alleges the men provided a payment for approximately 220 kilograms of cocaine with the understanding the drugs would be sold for about $5 million, including in New York City, and that they would share in the profits.

Campo, 61, of Oakton, Virginia, and Sensi, 75, of Boca Raton, Florida, were charged with 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.

Both men pleaded not guilty and were ordered detained following their court appearance.

“The indictment of former Special Agent Paul Campo sends a powerful message: those who betray the public trust—past or present—will be held to account to the fullest extent of the law,” DEA Administrator Terrance C. Cole said.

He added that any former agent who engages in criminal activity “dishonors the men and women who serve with integrity and undermines the public’s confidence in law enforcement.”

“We will not look the other way simply because someone once wore this badge,” Cole said.

U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton called CJNG a violent criminal enterprise and commended investigators for their work in the case.