Web Desk
HOUSTON – A former Department of Homeland Security (DHS) deportation officer has pleaded guilty to laundering drug money while serving in law enforcement.
Authorities identified Christopher Washington Toral, 49, of Spring, who joined Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in 2008 and was assigned to a processing center in Conroe, Texas.
Prosecutors revealed that over a two-month period in 2023, Toral agreed to transport $700,000 in drug proceeds, abusing his position to avoid detection.
As part of an undercover sting, Toral first transported $200,000 in cash from Dallas to Houston in February 2023, believing it was drug money.
Later that month, he moved another $200,000.
In March 2023, he flew from Newark, New Jersey, to Houston, carrying $300,000 in alleged drug profits.
Using his law enforcement credentials, he bypassed airport security and TSA checkpoints.
Toral accepted cash payments in return for these illegal transactions.
U.S. District Judge Keith Ellison accepted his guilty plea and scheduled sentencing for May 15. He faces a maximum of 20 years in federal prison and a $1 million fine.
