(WWJ) A Wayne County man, and nearly a dozen others, are facing life in prison, if found guilty in a multi-million-dollar money laundering, drug trafficking and wildlife trade operation that stretched from coast to coast, and around the world.
Terry Shook, 56, of Grosse Pointe Park is one of the defendants in the 10-year conspiracy across four countries—United States, Mexico, Canada and China (Hong Kong) --according to a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ)
He is the only Michigan man charged in the operation.
Under Operation Agent; five federal agencies arrested the twelve defendants—residents of California, Arizona, Georgia, Florida and Michigan—and conducted 22 search warrants in their homes and workplaces.
The DOJ said agents found “$3.9 million in multiple bank accounts; approximately $3 million in gold, silver, and other precious metals, along with $1 million in diamonds; approximately 18,000 marijuana plants and 34.5 pounds of processed marijuana; multiple firearms; and documented the harvest of more than six tons of shark fins.”
Shark finning is a practice of pulling sharks from the ocean, cutting off their fins, and throwing them back into the water injured. Experts believe it is done to make Shark Fin soup, a well-loved dish in many parts of Asia.
“It’s a sad day when not even the sharks in the ocean are safe from the greed of criminal organizations,” Acting Special Agent Robert Hammer, in charge of Homeland Security Investigation operations in Georgia and Alabama, said in the release.
Agents also discovered 18 totoaba fish bladders “illegally harvested from the endangered species,” according to the DOJ.
The agencies that took part in the search were U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and the U.S. Marshals Service.
According to a 37-page indictment, the defendants used “sham businesses and dozens of bank accounts” to conceal their illegal actions.
The defendants would put "bulk cash" from their illegal operation into third-party business accounts that "dealt in gold, precious metals, and jewels," the release read.
The other defendants include eight California residents, one Florida man, one Georgia man, and one Arizona man.
Two businesses, Serendipity Solutions LLC, of San Bruno, California; and Phoenix Fisheries LLC of Southport Florida, were also charged.
The charges include mail and wire fraud conspiracy; conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances; and money laundering conspiracy.
If found guilty, they face up to life in prison without the possibility of parole.