A Clayton woman has been sentenced to 11 years in federal prison for her role in laundering millions of dollars for drug cartels and distributing large quantities of cocaine and methamphetamine. Oralia Rodriguez-Flores, 40, pleaded guilty last year to conspiracy to commit money laundering, conspiracy to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine and 500 grams or more of methamphetamine, as well as distributing 500 grams or more of methamphetamine.
U.S. Attorney Ellis Boyle stated, “Let this case stand as a warning to those willing to help Cartels poison our communities. We will target your drugs, your finances, and your profits and seize them. Then we will ensure you spend decades in prison. Cartel crime will not pay in Eastern North Carolina. Rodriguez-Flores thought she could hide behind money laundering schemes and drug trafficking networks, but she thought wrong.”
Jae W. Chung, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the DEA Atlanta Division, said, “This outcome is the result of dedicated work by law enforcement at every level. The DEA remains committed to pursuing those who choose to traffic dangerous drugs and profit off of other’s addiction.”
Court documents revealed that from June 2021 through June 2024, Rodriguez-Flores distributed significant amounts of cocaine and methamphetamine shipped from Mexico and laundered proceeds back to Mexico. In January 2023, agents identified her as a supplier of kilogram quantities of cocaine to a South Carolina-based drug trafficking organization (DTO). On January 16, 2023, she delivered four kilograms of cocaine to the DTO. Less than a year later on January 5, 2024, she sold nearly 900 grams of high-purity methamphetamine.
Shortly after these events, Rodriguez-Flores traveled to Kentucky where agents seized $39,391 in cash from her upon her return to Raleigh. On February 2, 2024, authorities confiscated forty kilograms of cocaine from her semi-trailer truck in Kentucky.
Rodriguez-Flores admitted involvement with drug trafficking for about three years and described her operation distributing Mexican-sourced drugs throughout the Carolinas while also laundering millions back to Mexico.
Her prosecution was the result of an investigation by the Eastern District of North Carolina’s Illicit Finance Task Force (IFTF) and an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation. The IFTF was established in partnership with the Treasury Executive Office of Asset Forfeiture (TEOAF) as an interagency anti-money laundering task force focused on using criminal and civil laws strategically against money laundering activities impacting Eastern North Carolina.
The sentencing was announced by U.S. Attorney Ellis Boyle following Chief U.S. District Judge Richard E. Myers II’s decision. The Drug Enforcement Administration and Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigations led the investigation; Assistant U.S. Attorneys Toby Lathan and Charles Loeser prosecuted the case.
