SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – On March 5, 2026, a federal grand jury in the District of Puerto Rico returned an indictment charging Edwin Navarro-Artavia and Kyria Navarro-Santiago for conspiracy to commit money laundering. This investigation is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion.
According to court documents, Edwin Navarro-Artavia, 59, and Kyria Navarro-Santiago,34, of San Juan, utilizing several real estate businesses, including Navarro & Assocs. LLC, Navarro & Associados Corp., and YVS Homes LLC, facilitated the laundering of narcotics proceeds through the sale of real estate properties throughout Puerto Rico. Kyria Navarro-Santiago is a licensed real estate professional, but Edwin Navarro-Artavia is not licensed.
To accomplish the objectives of the money laundering scheme, the defendants and their co-conspirators would find sellers willing to sell their homes to buyers in a cash or other type of undisclosed transaction, while agreeing to leave any mortgage balance in the name of the seller. Buyers would often use drug proceeds to make down payments to sellers. Then, the buyers would use drug proceeds to pay off the remaining mortgage balance. At times the buyers would deliver the money, in cash, to defendants Edwin Navarro-Artavia and Kyria Navarro-Santiago, who would make the mortgage payments on behalf of the buyer. On occasion, Navarro-Artavia and Navarro-Santiago would further the conspiracy by placing the homes in their names, while leaving the mortgage in the name of the seller, and pay down the mortgage on behalf of the drug-trafficking buyer with drug proceeds. The defendants would also register homes purchased with drug proceeds in the names of straw purchasers, who had no legitimate connection to the real estate transaction other than the use of their identity for the purpose of concealing the true purchaser of the home. In addition, the defendants opened personal and business bank accounts to receive, deposit and transfer drug proceeds, and to fund expenditures related to properties involved in the illicit money laundering transactions. They also used peer-to-peer mobile electronic payment systems to transfer proceeds from person-person to avoid detection and further the conspiracy.
The indictment includes 23 real estate purchases of residential properties in several municipalities in Puerto Rico. The indictment also includes a money laundering forfeiture allegation of $3,300,000 and 21 real properties. This case is related to criminal case 23-273 (PAD), United States vs Nelson Torres-Delgado, a.k.a. “El Burro”, and 51 other defendants.
“These defendants and their drug trafficking associates exploited the financial system to launder their drug proceeds and acquire real properties. Financial institutions must remain vigilant to these types of schemes and report suspicious activity as required by federal law,” said W. Stephen Muldrow, United States Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico. “Sellers who facilitate these transactions and allow real properties and mortgages to remain in their names expose themselves to liability, as well.”
“Financial crimes are not victimless crimes. This case is an example of how on many occasions, these are enabling violent criminal enterprise operations, which have a direct impact on the quality of life of our communities,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge, Claudia Dubravetz, of the FBI’s San Juan Field Office. “Let this be a warning to those who think they can hide egregious criminal activity behind complex financial transactions. The FBI and our law enforcement partners will follow the evidence to the end, and you will face justice. If you work in a financial institution, and see something, say something—don’t become an accomplice by facilitating the scheme.”
The defendants are charged with one count of participating in a money laundering conspiracy. They are scheduled for their initial court appearance today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Giselle López Soler of the U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico. If convicted, they face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
The FBI and ATF are in charge of the investigation of the case with the collaboration of the Puerto Rico Department of Corrections, the Puerto Rico Department of Treasury (Hacienda), the Puerto Rico Police Department and the San Juan Municipal Police. Assistant U.S. Attorney R. Vance Eaton is prosecuting the case.
This prosecution is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of United States law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States. HSTF San Juan comprises agents and officers from the following federal partners: FBI, ICE-HSI, CBP (OFO, AMO and Border Patrol), the U.S. Marshals Service for Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, DEA, ATF, IRS, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Department of State, and the U.S. Secret Service, the Puerto Rico/U.S. Virgin Islands HIDTA, TSA, FAA, and the U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the Districts of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The HSTF also has the following state and local law enforcement partners as participating agencies: the Puerto Rico Police Department; the San Juan, Carolina, Guaynabo, Barceloneta, and Ponce Municipal Police Departments, the Puerto Rico National Guard – Counter Drug Program; the Puerto Rico Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation; the Puerto Rico Internal Revenue Service (Hacienda); the Puerto Rico Port Authority; and the Virgin Islands Police Department.
An indictment is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court
