Father-Daughter Duo Busted

⏱ 3 min read

A father-daughter duo, Edwin Navarro-Artavia, 59, and Kyria Navarro-Santiago, 34, were arrested in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on March 5, 2026, for their alleged role in a money laundering scheme. The pair used their real estate businesses to conceal drug proceeds, facilitating the sale of properties throughout Puerto Rico. The investigation, part of the Homeland Security Task Force initiative, revealed that the defendants worked with sellers and buyers to launder narcotics proceeds through cash transactions and mortgage payments.

The scheme involved finding sellers willing to sell their homes to buyers in cash or undisclosed transactions, with the defendants agreeing to leave any mortgage balance in the name of the seller. The buyers, often using drug proceeds, would make down payments and then pay off the remaining mortgage balance. The defendants would sometimes deliver the cash to make mortgage payments on behalf of the buyer, or place the homes in their names while leaving the mortgage in the name of the seller.

The investigation also found that the defendants would register homes purchased with drug proceeds in the names of straw purchasers, who had no legitimate connection to the real estate transaction. This allowed the true purchaser, often a drug trafficker, to remain anonymous. The use of straw purchasers and the laundering of drug proceeds through real estate transactions allowed the defendants to conceal the true source of the funds.

The arrests of Edwin Navarro-Artavia and Kyria Navarro-Santiago mark a significant development in the effort to combat money laundering in Puerto Rico. The Homeland Security Task Force initiative, established by Executive Order 14159, aims to protect the American people against invasion and disrupt the financial networks of drug traffickers.