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Alleged RCMP mole accused of selling secrets to kingpin money launderer and terror-financier’s network

In October 2014, Canadian intelligence leaders were invited to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s headquarters in Chantilly, Va. The DEA had a theory: the upper echelons of global money laundering, terrorism, drug-trafficking and organized crime all bleed together. And only a handful of men in this murky world of extremely… Read More

Mexican prosecutors clear ex-defense chief accused by US

Mexican prosecutors on Thursday exonerated a former defense minister who was arrested in the United States on drug trafficking charges and sent home to face a possible trial. The attorney general’s office said it would take no action against retired general Salvador Cienfuegos, whose surprise arrest at a Los Angeles… Read More

Mexico fentanyl seizures soar by almost 500% in 2020

AP — The Mexican army said Thursday that fentanyl seizures increased by at least 486% in 2020. Military and police forces said on the final day of the year that they had seized an estimated 1.3 tons of the synthetic opioid, compared to 222 kilograms in 2019. Read More

1st January 2021

Mexico Set to Become World’s Largest Legal Cannabis Market

Mexico is home to the world’s most powerful drug cartels, who have terrorized the country for years. But the country is poised to try something different in tackling the gangs by legalizing at least one of their products: marijuana. Mexico is set to become the world’s largest legal cannabis market… Read More

30th December 2020

Mexico Senator Says Banxico Dollar Law Will Pass in February

Mexico will likely approve a bill making the central bank the nation’s dollar buyer of last resort following changes that will ease concerns it could force the institution to take illicit funds, a top senator said. Lawmakers will hammer out details with central bank and finance ministry officials in January,… Read More

30th December 2020

Hit Hard by the Pandemic, Mexico’s Drug Cartels Tweaked Their Playbook

Like a lot of businesses, the Sinaloa Cartel was knocked back on its heels as the coronavirus swept the globe and travel ground to a near halt. Government measures to contain the virus had fouled up its operations, interrupting the supply of chemicals for manufacturing synthetic drugs like fentanyl and… Read More

30th December 2020

Mexico: Tough times blamed for escalation in wild animal trafficking

Wildlife protection officials are blaming hard economic times brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic for skyrocketing numbers in wild animal trafficking cases in 2020, as some people may be turning to the criminal activity to survive. Between 2019 and 2020, the number of federally protected animals seized by the environmental… Read More

24th December 2020

Mexico alleges Luz del Mundo, 4 other groups laundered money

AP — Mexican investigators said Tuesday they have filed money-laundering complaints against five religious groups in Mexico, including the Luz del Mundo church whose leader is charged in the United States with child rapes. The announcement from the Financial Intelligence Unit did not identify the groups involved… Read More

16th December 2020

Inside the Sinaloa Cartel’s Move Toward Europe

By Cecilia Anesi and Giulio Rubino, OCCRP, 15 December 2020 OCCRP–Police agencies have long known that Mexican drug cartels help supply Europe’s nearly US$10 billion annual cocaine habit, but acknowledge they have little idea about the workings of these highly organized and well-financed operations. But now,… Read More

10th December 2020

Mexican Cartels: “The Asian Connection”

Jorge A. posed proudly in front of the five-star hotel Radisson Blu Hotel Shanghai New World in January 2016. The photo’s caption set the tone for his business trip. “Busy working,” he gloomily wrote on Facebook. Jorge A. works for Corporativo Escomexa, a Mexican import-export company that specializes in the… Read More

9th December 2020

Breaking Bad in Europe: Mexican “Cooks” in Service of Dutch Gangs

By Audrey Travère, Forbidden Stories, 8 December 2020 Forbidden Stories—Willem-Jan Joachems recalls May 10, 2019 perfectly. “This is where it all happened. Exactly in this spot.” For the journalist, it was the scoop of a lifetime. “The ship was laying there, while they were collecting evidence, and… Read More

9th December 2020

Latin American crime cartels turn to crypto for money laundering

In April 2019, Mexican police arrested suspected human trafficker Ignacio Santoyo in a plush area of the Caribbean resort of Playa del Carmen after linking him to a prostitution racket extending across Latin America. Yet it was not the 2,000 women Santoyo is alleged to have blackmailed and sexually exploited… Read More

9th December 2020

‘An MBA in Corruption’: How Top Oil Trader Paid Bribes for Years

For years, the world’s largest oil trading firm has maintained that it has “zero tolerance” for corruption. Now Vitol Inc. has admitted that it was paying bribes through a network of shell companies and sham contracts. As recently as July 2020, while publicly repeating those assurances, Vitol was… Read More

Must Read

Defense Act Expands Scope of Foreign Bank Records U.S. Authorities Can Obtain

After Brexit, the UK is Open to Almost Unrestrained Antiquities Trade

Alleged RCMP mole accused of selling secrets to kingpin money launderer and terror-financier’s network

China Tripled AML Penalties in 2020 Compared to 2019

Fines for UK firms buying goods linked to Chinese slave labour camps