By AML Intelligence Correspondent
FinCEN held two events in Miami earlier this week, one focused on money laundering by Mexican cartels and the other part of a wider series of AML seminars in U.S. cities most impacted by the fentanyl epidemic.
In a statement the organisation, which is the AML unit of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, said the events in Miami included both public and private sector representatives in areas such as business and law enforcement.
The focus was for “discussions on ways to deepen collaboration against the financial crime threats that devastate communities and undermine the integrity of the global financial system”.
The first event covered fentanyl trafficking and the ways profits from drug dealing can be laundered through the financial system.
“FinCEN continues to call on financial institutions to monitor for and report suspicious activity related to the trafficking of fentanyl and other synthetic opioids and the precursor chemicals,” it said.
The second event was focused on “third-party money laundering by complicit gatekeepers, financial enablers, and international banking entities/international financial entities”.
It also discussed a recent warning from U.S. officials that Mexican cartels are increasingly defrauding U.S.-based timeshare owners.
The first event regarding fentanyl was part of FinCEN’s “Promoting Regional Outreach to Educate Communities on the Threat of Fentanyl” (PROTECT) series.
This is a series of ten ‘FinCEN Exchange’ sessions that will be held through the remainder of 2024 in U.S. cities that are highly impacted by the opioid epidemic.
“The series is specifically designed to work with regional and local banks that are deeply connected to their communities and offer unique perspectives on the opioid crisis,” FinCEN said.
“It will focus on how law enforcement can best support their efforts to monitor activity that may be tied to the illicit trafficking of fentanyl.
FinCEN added that at these exchanges, federal officials brief on information critical to tracking illicit financial flows, including “typologies and red-flag indicators of fentanyl-related activity, and discuss what types of information are particularly valuable when financial institutions report suspicious activity”.
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