Shu Jun Zhen

Pleaded guilty and sentenced. Zhen admitted the charges in July 2025 and was sentenced on October 21, 2026.

Introduction

Shu Jun Zhen, 31, of New York, is a money courier for a Chinese money laundering organization (CMLO) who was sentenced on October 21, 2026, in the Western District of North Carolina to nine years in prison and ordered to forfeit nearly $23 million for her role in a network that laundered over $92 million in illicit funds, including proceeds from drugs imported into and distributed in the United States, primarily through Mexico . She is the second defendant from this CMLO to receive a significant sentence .

Background Information

According to court documents, Zhen worked as a prolific courier for the organization, collecting drug trafficking proceeds from U.S.-based drug traffickers and depositing the money into shell company bank accounts registered by other members of the CMLO — deposits she made using both real and fake identities . As a courier, she personally picked up and deposited approximately $23 million of illicit bulk cash .

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

In July 2025, Zhen pleaded guilty to one count of money laundering conspiracy, one count of money laundering to conceal the nature, location, source, ownership, and control of illicit proceeds, and one count of engaging in a monetary transaction involving criminally derived property greater than $10,000 . As part of her plea she admitted that she knew the laundered funds included drug trafficking proceeds . The investigation around the network also recovered approximately $670,000 in U.S. currency and twelve firearms from a drug trafficking organization that had used the CMLO’s laundering services .

Public Reaction and Consequences

U.S. Attorney Russ Ferguson for the Western District of North Carolina said: “Today, we sentenced an individual who laundered drug proceeds and funneled money back to these transnational criminal organizations — amounting to over $90 million of illicit funds in less than two years” . Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva said Chinese money laundering networks are “not peripheral to the drug trade – they are essential to its survival” . IRS Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge Donald “Trey” Eakins said: “Shu Jun Zhen played a significant role in laundering millions of dollars in illicit funds, helping criminal organizations move and conceal the proceeds of unlawful activity” . The case is part of the Homeland Security Task Force initiative, and was investigated by the DEA Charlotte District Office and IRS-CI’s Charlotte Field Office, with assistance from the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation . Trial Attorneys Jayce Born and Kenneth Kaplan of the Criminal Division’s Money Laundering, Narcotics and Forfeiture Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Nick Miller and Seth Johnson for the Western District of North Carolina are prosecuting the case . Acting Special Agent in Charge Michael J. Connolly of DEA’s Atlanta Field Division said the coordinated effort was “holding accountable those who facilitate drug trafficking and helping dismantle the financial networks that fuel these criminal organizations” .

Current Status

Zhen is serving her nine-year sentence, with the forfeiture of nearly $23 million entered against her . The sentencing keeps the pressure on the wider organization: the release notes it is the second significant sentence within the same CMLO, and federal prosecutors framed the case as one link in a continuing campaign against the financial networks behind fentanyl-era drug trafficking .

Impact on Their Career/Life

At thirty-one, Zhen now carries a nine-year federal sentence and a ~$23 million forfeiture judgment for her work as a courier — the ground-level role that prosecutors described as the lifeblood of the organization’s ability to move, conceal, and reinvest illegal profits. Her case illustrates how the money couriers, not just the traffickers whose cash they carry, are now receiving multi-year sentences in the federal crackdown on Chinese money laundering networks.

Sources

• DOJ Office of Public Affairs, “Prolific Chinese Money Launderer Sentenced for Laundering Drug Trafficking Proceeds Following Homeland Security Task Force Investigation,” October 21, 2026 — source