From Trafficking to Tidying: Exploring the Activities of Financial Facilitators in Laundering Drug Money

• In Event: Insights into Money Laundering: Financial Facilitators, Intelligence Sharing and Pricing Dynamics

Abstract

Drug traffickers can earn significant amounts of money with their illegal endeavors. These proceeds might get so substantial that these offenders will require the services of others to launder their money. These services are offered by so called financial facilitators who possess specialized expertise needed to circumvent legal and procedural barriers raised by anti-money laundering policies. Earlier research based on Dutch police registration data found that financial facilitators’ can be characterized as business-like in performing their activities (e.g. offering services over a certain timespan and to multiple clients). In addition, this research suggests that financial facilitators do collaborate in – at times – extensive money laundering networks. The current study further examines the nature of the activities carried out by financial facilitators and explores the collaborations between these individuals. Therefore, the study utilizes a qualitative analysis based on case files involving financial facilitators, and interviews with prosecutors and police investigators. Some of the questions to be answered are what types of facilitators do we encounter, what type of money laundering services do they offer, to what extent do they collaborate with others and to what extent can their money laundering behavior be characterized as business-like.

Authors

• Jo-Anne Kramer, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam / Netherlands Institute for the Study of Crime and Law Enforcement (NSCR)

• Edward Kleemans, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

• Melvin Soudijn, Police of the Netherlands

• Arjan Blokland, Leiden University / NSCR