PERFUME DEALER LAUNDERED $25 MILLION FOR A MEXICAN DRUG CARTEL! HIS DIRTY MONEY SMELLED GOOD! LOL!

An international perfume dealer was arrested in Manhattan and accused of laundering more than $25 million for Mexican drug cartels, federal prosecutors said Tuesday.

Vikram Datta was busted during a meeting with an undercover agent on Saturday after a months-long investigation.

Datta used his perfume stores in Texas, Arizona and California to launder millions for the Sinaloa Cartel, a major narcotics trafficking operation in Mexico, officials said.

"Vikram Datta allegedly tried to mask dirty money with, of all things, the scent of perfume," said U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara.

Datta knowingly bought perfume - some from New York companies - and sold it to so-called "peso brokers," who use drug money to get profits from the U.S. back to Mexico.

Datta told undercover agents he used 11 stores on the U.S.-Mexico border to "move cash" for the cartels, prosecutors said.

Datta faces 20 years in prison if convicted.

The Sinaloa Cartel has been linked to recent massacres in Acapulco and other Mexican cities where rival drug dealers have been found decapitated.

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