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| U.S. Cracks Down on Border Money Service Businesses to Stop Cartel Money Laundering |
| 2025-12-25 |
| [Breitbart] The U.S. Department of the Treasury announced an enforcement operation along the southwest border targeting more than 100 money service businesses (MSBs). The effort is the latest operation aimed at cutting off financial tools used by drug cartels. Treasury officials revealed that MSBs are entities that are not banks but provide money transfer, wire, exchange, and other cash-based services; a type of business that, since it primarily deals with cash, provides a certain anonymity for cartels to move or launder funds. As part of their operations, officials reviewed more than one million Currency Transaction Reports and 87,000 suspicious activity reports, all of which financial businesses are required by law to report. For the operation, Treasury and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FINCEN) used a series of high-tech tools to sort through large volumes of data and identify leads for law enforcement. In targeting those businesses, Treasury officials issued six notices of investigation, dozens of examination referrals to the IRS (Internal Revenue Service), and more than 50 compliance letters to address vulnerabilities to money laundering. The Department of the Treasury claimed it was targeting businesses that appeared to be violating the Bank Secrecy Act. “At President Trump’s direction, the Treasury Department is utilizing all tools to stop terrorist cartels, drug traffickers, and human smugglers,” said Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent in a prepared statement provided to Breitbart Texas. “This sweeping operation will help root out potential cartel-related money laundering from the U.S. financial system.” Related: Money service business 01/25/2023 US slaps sanctions on alleged Hezbollah money man, currency exchange front Money service business 03/21/2021 US charges 10 Iranians with evading sanctions Money service business 02/03/2021 The Looming Threats of Al Qaeda and ISIS |
| Posted by:Skidmark |