December 4, 2023
Fentanyl deaths are soaring in the United States.
And while that’s horrific – the fact is it keeps happening because fentanyl and fentanyl trafficking is a huge business worth tens of billions of dollars every year.
So today – the government announced a new strike force to try and put a stop to the flow of the drug into this country.
But this new strike force is not a police or military one. It’s a group that will target the money.
Which – according to a recent government report found of those tens of billions of dollars of profits that were laundered to make legitimate – less than 1% of that money was recovered or the criminals responsible prosecuted. Because these fentanyl money laundering networks are often so complicated and span across several country.
So the Treasury Department is trying to change that with today’s new strike force announcement. They say cutting off the money – may help – along with all the other things the government is trying to do to stop the flow of the deadly drug.
The Treasury Department’s office of terrorism and financial intelligence and the IRS’s criminal investigation unit will team up with several other government departments that focus on foreign assets and terrorist financing to target the global supply chain of the drug and counter the money laundering with the help of their counterparts in Mexico and Canada. The strike force will also partner with the private sector to identify risks, take action and allow the private sector to provide leads and information about the possible money laundering operations. Including – when the money’s being funneled through cryptocurrency.
Once these leads come in the strike force can coordinate with all the government agencies and foreign and private partners to disrupt the money flow, and loop in law enforcement with a solid case that can be prosecuted.
Read more about the Treasury Department strike force here.
