Houston Man Sentenced to 20 Years for Drug Trafficking, Money Laundering

Date: April 3, 2026

Contact: newsroom@ci.irs.gov

Houston – A Houston man has been sentenced for his role in the distribution of multiple narcotics, announced Acting U.S. Attorney John G.E. Marck.

Cyrus Boujabadi pleaded guilty June 6, 2025, to possessing MDMA with the intent to distribute it and for engaging in a monetary transaction in criminally derived property.

U.S. District Ewing Werlein Jr. has now ordered Boujabadi to serve a total of 240 months in federal prison to be immediately followed by five years of supervised release. The court also imposed a $5,000 fine. In handing down the sentence, the court heard additional evidence detailing Boujabadi’s leadership role in the scheme. The court found he acted as an organizer and took steps to insulate himself from law enforcement by using couriers. He had also used his residence to distribute drugs, engaged in drug trafficking as a pattern of criminal livelihood and possessed a firearm in connection with his drug trafficking enterprise.

From Jan. 2019 to approximately July 2023, Boujabadi conspired with others to distribute MDMA, meth, cocaine, marijuana, psilocybin and DMT. As part of the conspiracy, he coordinated drug transactions using a messaging application, directed others to deliver controlled substances and accepted payment in cash and electronic transfers.

Law enforcement executed a search warrant at Boujabadi’s residence and seized meth, MDMA tablets, Xanax, marijuana, DMT, THC oils and edibles and psilocybin mushrooms. They also found drug trafficking equipment, cash and cryptocurrency. Further investigation revealed the funds and digital assets were proceeds of drug trafficking.

Boujabadi deposited the drug proceeds into accounts he controlled to enrich himself, including purchasing multiple properties in Tennessee, which have now been forfeited.

To date, five others have been convicted and sentenced in connection with the conspiracy.

Boujabadi will remain in custody pending transfer to a Federal Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.

This operation is now part of the Homeland Security Task Force 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 U.S. law enforcement towards identifying, investigating and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes these organizations commit, 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 Houston comprises agents and officers from Drug Enforcement Administration; Texas Department of Public Safety; Houston Police Department; Harris County Sherriff's Office; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; U.S. Marshals Service; U.S. Postal Inspection Service; Department of Treasury/ IRS; and Katy Police Department with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas leading the prosecution.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Casey N. MacDonald and Anibal J. Alaniz prosecuted the case. AUSAs Tyler Foster and Elizabeth Wyman handled the forfeiture matters.

IRS-CI is the law enforcement arm of the IRS, responsible for conducting financial crime investigations, including tax fraud, narcotics trafficking, money laundering, public corruption, healthcare fraud, identity theft and more. It is the only federal law enforcement agency with investigative jurisdiction over violations of the Internal Revenue Code. IRS-CI has 18 field offices located across the U.S. and maintains an international presence through attaché posts abroad.