Police have charged a Manchester businesswoman and two members of her family for money laundering offences.

They are businesswoman Eva Mae Sterling, her son Nicholas Chang, and her sister Marline Ledford of St. Catherine.

A statement from the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service says the charges follow intensive local and international efforts by law enforcement entities.

The three were charged by detectives from the financial investigations division and the counter terrorism and organized crime investigations branch.

Police say the accused persons purchased a number of properties valued over $100 m from the proceeds of drug trafficking activities engaged in by a close relative who was convicted in the US in 2013.

Chang, Ledford and Sterling were charged for breaches of the proceeds of crime act and placed before the St. Andrew parish court today (Mar 24).

Each was offered bail in the sum of $700,000 with surety.

Orders were also made regarding fingerprints and the surrendering of travel documents.

They are to return to court on July 7.

Police say this investigation is indicative of the continued joint approach being utilized by local and overseas investigators in effectively identifying, tracing and seizing property believed to be derived from criminal conduct, whether situated locally or overseas.

The investigators have warned that law enforcement authorities will not spare their efforts in prosecuting persons found to be facilitating launderers of ill-gotten gains, whether they are associates, family members or professional service providers.