A US senator and an influential doctor have used the recent massacre of American women and children in broad daylight by members of a Mexican drug cartel to highlight the consequences of insufficient controls over trade-based money laundering (TBML).

Senator Bill Cassidy and Dr Vanila Singh expressed their view on the widely quoted political web site, The Hill, that conventional strategies for eliminating these criminal organisations have failed, but if enforcement agencies followed the criminals’ money they may well achieve better results.

New strategy needed

Cassidy and Singh say a new strategy is needed that targets how these dangerous organisations fund their illegal activities.

They say these cartels continue to fuel a public health crisis with 60,000 Americans dying each year from drug abuse while many more lose their livelihood due to violence and addiction related to illicit drugs.

It’s why people die

The senator and the doctor go on to highlight that criminals use TBML to move illegal goods and money to fund their operations.

“It’s how drug cartels traffic both drugs and people. It is how rogue nations get around international sanctions and how the black market continues to thrive under our noses, and it’s why people keep dying,” they say.

Shifting goods and funds

Bad actors have used TBML to hijack international trade networks, largely unchecked, to move illicit goods and money by masking seemingly legitimate business transactions, they conclude.

The article by Cassidy and Singh goes on to provide examples of how criminals use TBML to shift goods and funds.

Senator Bill Cassidy and Dr Vanila Singh’s opinion piece, Following massacre of Americans, we need a new strategy to defeat drug cartels, can be found here.

Categories: Trade Based Financial crimes News