The ringleader of a money laundering cell that moved drug proceeds from Florida to Brownsville and into Matamoros for the Gulf Cartel pleaded guilty Friday.

Oscar J. Aguilar, 37, a Mexican citizen legally living in Brownsville, admitted to conspiring to commit international money laundering.

Aguilar recruited nine other people, some of whom were family members, to open bank accounts at the Bank of America in Brownsville, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a press release.

Unknown co-conspirators in Florida would deposit drug money into those accounts and the recruits would withdraw funds in amounts under $10,000 and turn the money over to Aguilar or other co-conspirators, court documents have shown.

The recruits were paid for moving the money through the bank accounts, the USAO said in a press release.

The conspiracy started in September 2008 and lasted through November 2012, and nearly $2 million was moved through nine bank accounts, according to the indictment.

From September 2011 through November 2012, $1.5 million was moved, the USAO said in a press release.

“HSI (Homeland Security Investigations) Special Agents often investigate complex financial schemes in order to disrupt and dismantle the ongoing operations of transnational criminal organizations,” HSI San Antonio Special Agent in Charge Janice Ayala said. “These investigations deprive the organizations from enjoying the benefits of these illicit proceeds, and prevent them from furthering the efforts of the ongoing criminal enterprise. We will continue to aggressively investigate fraudulent financial schemes that put in jeopardy

the integrity of our financial system.”

Nine co-conspirators have been convicted in the case, eight of whom have pleaded guilty to operating an unlicensed money transmitting business. Additionally, Francisco Jesus Arambul-Cortez, who was indicted separately, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit international money laundering, according to a USAO press release.

A plea agreement for Arambul-Cortez states that he collected $176,000 from co-conspirators and handed it over to Aguilar, who would facilitate its crossing into Mexico.

Aguilar pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Ronald G. Morgan and will remain in custody pending an Aug. 18 sentencing in front of U.S. District Judge Andrew S. Hanen, where he faces up to 20 years in prison and a possible fine of $500,000, according to the USAO.