U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration Launders Drug Money

OK, here is the drill.
The DEA wants to know exactly where all the profits of drug money goes, they launder millions of dollars a year.


If it works, good. Considering the recent adventure of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in the Fast and Furious, are we wasting our time?


U.S. Agents Launder Mexican Profits of Drug Cartels

A crime scene in Monterrey, Mexico, last week.

WASHINGTON — Undercover American narcotics agents have laundered or smuggled millions of dollars in drug proceeds as part of Washington’s expanding role in Mexico’s fight against drug cartels, according to current and former federal law enforcement officials.

The agents, primarily with the Drug Enforcement Administration, have handled shipments of hundreds of thousands of dollars in illegal cash across borders, those officials said, to identify how criminal organizations move their money, where they keep their assets and, most important, who their leaders are.



The officials said that while the D.E.A. conducted such operations in other countries, it began doing so in Mexico only in the past few years. The high-risk activities raise delicate questions about the agency’s effectiveness in bringing down drug kingpins, underscore diplomatic concerns about Mexican sovereignty, and blur the line between surveillance and facilitating crime. As it launders drug money, the agency often allows cartels to continue their operations over months or even years before making seizures or arrests.

FULL STORY:NY TIMES



INTERACTIVE: AREAS OF CARTEL INFLUENCE AND DISPUTE

INTERACTIVE: MOVING INTO THE U.S.