Free Republic

Federal officials have charged a Chicago woman with laundering large volumes of suspected narcotics proceeds after a months-long investigation linked her to cash exchanges tied to Mexican drug cartels and Chinese cryptocurrency networks, according to a recently unsealed federal complaint. Homeland Security Investigations arrested Xiao Mei of Canaryville on allegations that she coordinated a series of large cash exchanges in Chinatown and River North between February and July 2024. Prosecutors said Mei, described as a Chicago-based broker for a Chinese money-laundering network, regularly used WeChat to arrange pickups of bulk U.S. currency from associates of drug traffickers and transferred equivalent...

Two Chinese diplomats, away from their Los Angeles consulate improperly, recently sped their vehicle past a Los Alamos National Lab guard post near classified facilities in what United States officials think was ian intelligence mission, the Washington Times has learned.The diplomats, identified as Hua Yu and Bo Lai, were on an intelligence mission that is raising new worries of Chinese nuclear spying against the United States, according to US officials familiar with the incident.Pajarito Road is the site of two sensitive facilities. One is the Critical Assembly Facility known as Technical Area 18, the other is the Plutonium Reasearch facility,...