Legitimate Trade Is Being Used To Launder Cartel Money, U.S., Mexico Say

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( Paul Duginski, Los Angeles Times / November 26, 2011 )

Cartels Use Legitimate Trade To Launder Money, U.S., Mexico say -- L.A. Times

Fruit, fabric and toys are purchased and then exported south, generating paperwork that gives drug money the appearance of lawful proceeds from a transaction, authorities say.

Reporting from Mexico City — It's fast becoming the money-laundering method of choice for Mexican drug traffickers, U.S. and Mexican officials say, and it involves truckloads not of cash, but of fruit and fabric.

Faced with new restrictions on the use of U.S. cash in Mexico, drug cartels are using an ingenuous scheme to move their ill-gotten dollars south under the guise of legitimate cross-border commerce.

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My Comment: The money has to go somewhere.