Authorities arrested in Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo, Otmane Khalladi, a fugitive wanted in the United States for alleged crimes of electronic fraud and money laundering, the Secretary of Security and Citizen Protection (SSPC), Omar García Harfuch, reported this Friday in a publication in X.
According to the official, the capture was the result of a coordinated action between the SSPC and the Attorney General’s Office (FGR), through AIC-Interpol, with support from the Secretariat of the Navy (Semar), the Secretariat of National Defense (Defense) and the Secretariat of Citizen Security of Quintana Roo, “derived from the exchange of information with the FBI.”
García Harfuch pointed out that, “after entering the country, he used a false identity to evade the authorities; however, through intelligence and investigation work he was located,” without detailing the type of document or alias used, nor specifying whether the detainee has an ongoing immigration or extradition process.
In a separate statement, the SSPC noted that the detainee was presented to the INM immigration station, “where the protocols for his deportation will continue, within the framework of international cooperation mechanisms.”
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In the information, it was detailed that in addition to the crimes of electronic fraud and money laundering, he is also accused of failing to appear before a United States Court.
Public information from the United States placed Otmane Khalladi, 32 years old and residing in Miami, Florida, among those accused by federal authorities in the framework of an investigation into a scam network known as “grandparent scam,” focused on elderly victims.
According to the Department of Justice, the scheme would have operated since the summer of 2021, with calls from Canada to older adults in dozens of states, to induce them to deliver money under the false narrative of a detained relative, in most cases a grandchild, in addition to subsequent movements to hide the origin of the funds.
The accusation refers to losses of more than 21 million dollars, according to the US Department of Justice.
With information from EFE
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