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Date: April 29, 2024 Mon
Time: 10:01 pm
Time: 10:01 pm
Results for organized crime (u.s. - mexico)
1 results foundAuthor: Realuyo, Celina B. Title: It’s All about the Money: Advancing Anti-Money Laundering Efforts in the U.S. and Mexico to Combat Transnational Organized Crime Summary: In the course of examining transnational criminal organizations (TCOs) operating in the U.S. and Mexico, we focus on their most prominent illicit activities like the trafficking of drugs, arms, and persons, and kidnapping, extortion and money laundering. These criminal enterprises leverage global supply chains and weak governance to move their products and services to meet market demand. While the globalization of organized crime is not a new phenomenon, the magnitude, pace and violence accompanying its illicit activities is alarming. In the past five years, Mexico has witnessed unprecedented levels of drug-related violence claiming over 47,000 lives since 2006. According to the U.S. National Drug Intelligence Center, major Mexican-based TCOs and their associates are solidifying their dominance of the U.S. wholesale drug trade and will maintain their reign for the foreseeable future. Their preeminence derives from a competitive advantage based on several factors, including access to and control of smuggling routes across the U.S. border and the capacity to produce (or obtain), transport, and distribute nearly every major illicit drug of abuse in the United States. These TCOs are extremely well funded and well armed: and they are presenting a formidable threat to the security, prosperity, and psyche of the people of Mexico and the United States. For transnational criminal organizations, including those operating in the U.S. and Mexico, “it’s all about the money.” Criminal enterprises seek to maximize profit at every opportunity and minimize their risk of being detected and interdicted. Money is the lifeblood for any organization including governments, private companies, and criminal enterprises. From purchasing goods and services to paying employees, money is the oxygen for any activity, licit or illicit. TCOs engage in money laundering in order to enjoy the spoils from their crimes. Contrary to what some may believe, money laundering is not a victimless crime. The proceeds of crime enrich and empower transnational criminal organizations and allow them to undermine state institutions and economic prosperity. Illegal drug export revenues from Mexico in 2011 were estimated at approximately US$ 6.2 billion, comprised of the major drugs: cocaine (est. $2.8 billion), followed by marijuana ($1.9bn), heroin ($0.9bn) and methamphetamines ($0.6bn). The governments of the U.S. and Mexico recognize that they must attack the economic power of transnational criminal organizations to weaken them. Mexican President Felipe Calderon has said, “The prevention of money laundering and combating financial terrorism is a fundamental part of the state's comprehensive strategy against organized crime." In 2011, the U.S. released its Strategy to Combat Transnational Organized Crime that describes how TCOs and their activities, including money laundering, present a threat to U.S. national security. This paper outlines the use of the economic and financial instruments of national power aimed at degrading transnational criminal organizations in the U.S. and Mexico and increasing their cost of doing business. It will examine the major modes of money laundering employed by the TCOs, describe current U.S. and Mexican anti-money laundering measures, and offer some options for advancing the U.S.-Mexican fight against money laundering. Some options the U.S. and Mexico should consider going forward include: Make combating money laundering a top priority of their strategies to combat transnational organized crime, Establish a centralized coordinating mechanism for U.S.-Mexican anti-money laundering activities, such as a TCO Finance Working Group, Dedicate adequate human, financial, and technological resources to their agencies responsible for combating money laundering, Enhance bilateral cooperation on money laundering investigations and prosecutions; and Engage the private and civic sectors in the fight against money laundering and transnational organized crime. Details: Washington, DC: Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars, Mexico Institute, 2012. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 7, 2012 at: http://www.wilsoncenter.org/sites/default/files/Realuyo_U.S.-Mexico_Money_Laundering_0.pdf Year: 2012 Country: United States URL: http://www.wilsoncenter.org/sites/default/files/Realuyo_U.S.-Mexico_Money_Laundering_0.pdf Shelf Number: 125504 Keywords: Money LaunderingOrganized Crime (U.S. - Mexico)Transnational Crimes |