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US Officials Investigate Ties Between Drug Cartels and Bitcoin Brokers

By Daniel Bethencourt

Mexican drug traffickers are using digital currency brokers to move illicit cash out of the United States as part of a global, trade-based money laundering scheme, say U.S. federal investigators. The apparent trend is enabled by unlikely partners: counterfeit goods manufacturers in China who, according the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, are increasingly accepting millions of dollars-worth of bitcoins originating from overseas drug traffickers, then using the digital currency to circumvent their country's restrictions on capital flight. Federal authorities are pursuing several investigations into the illicit use of digital currency by Mexican drug traffickers that also involve a nexus with Chinese...

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