• Home
• Channel: Current Affairs
• 16 Given Prison Sentences For Laundering Colombian Drug Funds Worth 18 Billion Forints

16 Given Prison Sentences For Laundering Colombian Drug Funds Worth 18 Billion Forints

• 30 Apr 2021 7:40 AM
• Hungary Matters

The municipal court of Budapest has handed prison sentences to 16 defendants in a non-biding ruling on charges of laundering cash from trafficking in Colombian drugs to the tune of billions of forints.

According to the ruling, the defendants brought large amounts of euros and dollars from the Netherlands and Spain by car, which they then deposited in bank accounts in Hungary and Slovakia. The money was later transferred to Chinese companies.

The gang, run by a Vietnamese, laundered funds over 18 billion forints (EUR 49.7m) in 2013-2014, the court said.

The ringleader was arrested and sentenced in the United States.

The organisation also smuggled Serbian and Ukrainian tobacco products from Hungary to Slovenia, France, and the UK in the same period, handling over 787,000 packets.

Charges were pressed against 36 people in late 2017.

Sixteen defendants received prison sentences ranging between two and nine years, while six people were sentenced to suspended prison and three others were fined.


MTI Photo: László Beliczay

• How does this content make you feel?
• I love it
• I like it
• I dislike it

• Prison Sentence Laundering Colombian Drug Funds

XpatLoop Media Partner

Hungary Matters

Launched in January 2014, this newsletter published on week days covers 'everything you need to know about what’s going on in Hungary and beyond', according to its publisher the state media agency MTI.

Explore More Reports

Updated: 'Budapest Will Not Kneel', Says Mayor to Gov't

• 4 Dec 2025 12:00 PM

At a "Budapest Pride March 2.0" rally outside the Carmelite Monastery, the prime minister's office, Gergely Karacsony, the mayor of Budapest, vowed the city would "not kneel", as he handed the City Assembly's resolution on its "real financial crisis" to a government representative.



Budget Crisis Threatens Budapest’s Public Services, City Hall Rejects Insolvency Ultimatum

• 2 Dec 2025 6:15 AM

The financial stability of Budapest is currently at the centre of a fierce political standoff between the City Assembly and the national government. The dispute intensified this week after Mayor Gergely Karácsony and the city administration rejected a government proposal to declare the capital insolvent, an act the government had framed as a prerequisite for offering financial aid.



Watch: Who is Péter Magyar? What Does His Tisza Party Stand For? And Can Magyar beat Orbán?

• 28 Nov 2025 12:49 PM

Magyar is the most visible new face on Hungary’s political stage — a former Fidesz insider who turned into a high-profile opposition leader almost overnight. He now accuses the government of nepotism, misusing EU funds, and using state media for propaganda, advocating for policies to combat corruption and restore democratic institutions.



EC Still Shares Concerns that Triggered Article 7 Procedure Against Hungary, Says EU Commissioner

• 25 Nov 2025 7:20 AM

The European Commission continues to share many of the concerns expressed by the European Parliament in its 2018 reasoned proposal triggering the Article 7 procedure against Hungary, the European Commissioner for democracy, justice and the rule of law said in Strasbourg.