There are lots of ways to get caught. If you want to buy a house, you either need a mortgage and will have to demonstrate income (which you probably can't), or

There are lots of ways to get caught. If you want to buy a house, you either need a mortgage and will have to demonstrate income (which you probably can't), or you have to pay cash. Buying the kinds of houses that drug dealers buy in cash is going to draw a lot of attention that you don't want. Likewise with cars, or really any big purchases. Getting really nice season tickets to sporting events is going to be suspicious if no one can vet that you actually have a job. Laundering the money is not instead of paying taxes, it's on top of paying taxes. The goal is to make it appear that you're a legitimate business person who makes their money from laundromats or whatever. If the police come snooping about how you can pay for your house or cars or tickets, you can just show them the books for your "business" as evidence that you really are just a regular Joe that runs a chain of laundromats.