The Drug Enforcement Agency alleges two women worked from a second floor office in a McAllen beauty supply store to launder more than $2 million in drug proceeds collected from across Texas for a known drug trafficker.
DEA agents arrested María Estela Suprise and Yolanda Peña on Tuesday morning and executed search warrants on South Tex Beauty Supply and seizure warrants on bank accounts associated with the business in the culmination of a two-year investigation into the alleged operation.
A criminal complaint indicated the investigation began Feb. 9, 2018, when a drug trafficker contacted a DEA confidential source to arrange the pick up of approximately $63,500 in cash in Austin and more currency in Houston before delivering it to McAllen.
An undercover who picked up approximately $84,420 delivered the drug proceeds, which were wrapped in rubber bands and hidden in a shoe box, on Feb. 14, 2018, to Peña in a private office on the second floor of South Tex Beauty Supply, according to the DEA.
“When Peña met with (the undercover), she asked ‘what did you bring,’ and then stated ‘I hope it doesn’t have a lot of five (5) dollar bills like the last time. It took a long time to count, and I don’t have a money counting machine,’ all spoken in the Spanish language,” the complaint stated.
Peña informed the undercover that the total was $83,200, which was $200 less than what was brought in and the undercover said, “Make sure you wash your hands, because you all know where this money comes from . . . it’s dirty.”
The DEA says she laughed and acknowledged the comment.
Peña later called the undercover about the $200 discrepancy in the count and said “the next time you come, you will not leave here until you and I have agreed on the final count.”
On July 31, 2018, a drug trafficker contacted a DEA confidential source to arrange the transportation of nearly 90 pounds of methamphetamine to Dallas, according to federal authorities.
The DEA said in the complaint that agents used sham bundles to conduct a controlled delivery to four people in Dallas and received $75,000.
“Of that amount, $20,000.00 USC was owed for transportation fees and the remainder was to be transported to South Tex Beauty Supply (STBS) in McAllen, Texas,” the complaint stated.
After that exchange, DEA agents arrested the four individuals in Dallas, seized the sham narcotics and an undercover agent was instructed to call Peña, according to the complaint.
On Aug. 2, 2018, the undercover delivered $55,489 in drug proceeds to Suprise and Peña on the second floor of South Tex Beauty Supply where the women used a money counting machine to tally the cash, federal authorities said.
The DEA said Suprise advised the undercover agent that it would be easier to do business if the undercover purchased multiple money orders in different locations in amounts between $500 and $1,000 to minimize suspicion.
“During the delivery, M.Suprise made several comments about having to be careful about the count because if it was wrong there could be dire consequences,” the complaint stated.
After Suprise confirmed the amount, the undercover left the location, and the DEA believes this delivery was directed by a known drug trafficker who was believed to be in Mexico at the time of the communications.
“Agents have conducted a financial investigation into the business accounts of STBS and have learned that large sums of cash are deposited almost daily,” the complaint stated.
Both Suprise and Peña made first appearances in federal court Wednesday morning and were being temporarily held without bond pending detention and probable cause hearings scheduled for later this week, court records show.
