D.E.A. Launders Mexican Profits of Drug Cartels

[Gerald]

A crime scene in Monterrey, Mexico, last week. Drug-related violence has claimed the lives of more than 40,000 people since late 2006, Mexican officials say.

WASHINGTON Undercover American narcotics agents have laundered or smuggled millions of dollars in drug proceeds as part of Washingtons expanding role in Mexicos 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.They said agents had deposited the drug proceeds in accounts designated by traffickers, or in shell accounts set up by agents.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 agencys 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.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/04/wo...ls.html?ref=us

Note: December 3, 2011

[1480]

We've been arming the cartels too, whats a little cash laundering amongst amigos.......

[Gerald]

Is more than "little cash" this.

[the_tyrant]

Helping the american youth obtain cheap and good drugs!

[Gerald]

Closing as this is welcomed.

[Osmium Steele]

You work hard to place an agent inside the cartel, in a position to learn about their financials; then, when the agent is told to do their magic with a duffel-bag full of cash, they should refuse?

This is the nature of undercover work. Getting one's hands dirty for the greater good.

Now, if this is anything like the CIA's Air America, that is a horse of a different color.