It was announced on Wednesday by U.S. Attorney Karen Loeffler that five Anchorage residents and one Orlando resident were arrested on charges of conspiracy to commit international money laundering and structuring financial transactions.

The arrests of five people in Anchorage and one in Florida took place on Tuesday according to the announcement. The arrests were made by the IRS Criminal Investigation Division, the Drug Enforcement Administration and Homeland Security Investigations.

Arrested were, d Claritza Natera, 44,Joel Paredes Henriquez, 32, Nerido Paredes Henriquez, 38, Alberto Acosta, 32, and Carlita Acosta, 34, of Anchorage, Alaska, and Concepcion Egea, 56, of Orlando, Florida.

In the indictment, it stated that between approximately January 2010 and December 2011, the defendants conspired with one another and with unindicted co-conspirators Randin Paredes Henriquez and Joel Santana-Pierna, who were previously indicted in another case, to transfer large sums of money from Alaska to the Dominican Republic. The money was the proceeds of a larger conspiracy allegedly perpetrated by Santana-Pierna and others to distribute cocaine. The alleged co-conspirators noted in the indictment, wired more than $175,000 in illegally obtained funds from Alaska to the Dominican Republic over a two year period. Additionally, in December 2011, Claritza Natera and others transported $55,720 in cash on board a plane from Alaska to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in an attempt to then escort the funds to the Dominican Republic.

It further alleges in the indictment, that the co-conspirators evaded federal financial transaction reporting requirements by making multiple deposits, sometimes within minutes or hours of each other, for amounts under the $10,000, thus skirting the reporting requirement for tranactions at $10,000 or above.

The conspiracy charge in this case is punishable by a sentence of up to 20 years and a $500,000 fine. Structuring charges are punishable by up to 10 years and a fine.