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A fascinating read from the FT on how a sophisticated money laundering network using Chinese bank accounts and shadow transfers is exacerbating the fentanyl crisis, complicating efforts by authorities to trace and disrupt illicit financial flows.
The process usually begins with Mexican gangs delivering dollars in bulk to Chinese money laundering organisations in the US. Authorities have witnessed cartel members drop off bags of cash to Chinese nationals. These are normally not criminals, but rather students, retail workers or taxi drivers recruited to secure the money who are not aware of the connection to drug traffickers. Once the couriers have the cash, they send a verification code through an encrypted app. Upon confirmation of receipt, the Chinese brokers pay the cartels using associates in Mexico, often in pesos. To clean the cash they have accumulated, the money laundering groups often sell the dollars to wealthy Chinese in the US. In return, these individuals authorise a bank transfer in China of the equivalent amount in renminbi to accounts controlled by the money laundering organisation.
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