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From Sale to Teller, Smuggled Cash Can Take Circuitous Route, Says ICE Official
printWhen imagining how dirty money is moved around the country, "think of FedEx," says Joseph Burke, chief of the National Bulk Cash Smuggling Center in Vermont. Established five years ago as part of the ICE Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) directorate, the center is tasked with tracing the sometimes elaborate path of drug proceeds from point-of-sale to the bank teller's window. Such routes can involve the seemingly counterintuitive steps of transporting cash back into the United States, he said. In a recent interview with reporter Kira Zalan, Burke spoke about the potential impact of Mexico's 2010 decision to restrict U.S. dollar...
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A broad anti-money laundering measure that would create and strengthen criminal penalties and impose reporting requirements on non-bank institutions in Mexico is likely to pass into law this month, say former government officials.
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The Bush Administration is seeking a 7 percent budget increase next year for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement that includes about $4 million for units that investigate bulk cash smuggling and trade finance-related money laundering.