A pair of lawmakers are encouraging the Treasury Department to ensure new Foreign Financial Intelligence Unit Liaisons personnel possess narcotics-related finance and other money laundering issues proficiency.
U.S. Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA) recently forwarded correspondence to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen in the wake of last month’s Control Caucus hearing exploring drug control agencies’ roles in addressing illicit drug trade affiliated corruption.
“Drug trafficking organizations (DTOs) perpetuate crime and corruption, which undermines the rule of law, erodes democratic institutions, and threatens U.S. national security,” Whitehouse and Grassley, chairman and co-chairman, respectively, of the Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control, wrote. “These criminal groups rely on illicit finance and money laundering to turn their ill-gotten proceeds into legitimate funds that are then used to further their destabilizing operations.”
The legislators maintain deploying domestic financial experts to nations serving as drug-producing or transit countries would aid in stripping DTO financial networks — hindering capacity to traffic narcotics into the United States.
“These attachés and liaisons should also consult with the host nation’s counter-narcotics officials to better understand the methodologies used by local DTOs, including the most common methods such as bulk cash smuggling and trade-based money laundering,” the lawmakers concluded. “Such personnel should also have experience in developing and implementing programs intended to collect and disseminate beneficial ownership information, as DTOs routinely exploit current law to launder illicit funds.”