Drugs and Money Laundering

Money laundering refers to the process of concealing and transforming the proceeds of illegal activity to disguise their unlawful origins and ownership. Although impossible to assess accurately, between $590 billion and $1.5 trillion worth of illegally generated money is laundered annually. While profits from a number of illegal activities contribute to this estimate, a considerable percentage of this total is a result of illicit drug sales.

According to a National Drug Intelligence Center report published in 2006, between $14 billion and $60 billion in drug money transits out of the United States each year, and this money is laundered in a variety of ways either in foreign countries or in the United States. Left unchecked, money laundering fuels the drug trade and organized crime, undermines local ...