As a company headquartered in Vancouver, we are starkly aware of the impact of drug trafficking on our local community. Current numbers show that every day, 5.8 people lose their lives to the overdose epidemic in British Columbia, with 80,000 lives being claimed across North America annually.
In their recent report on Money Laundering from Fentanyl and Synthetic Opioids, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) highlights the role of online anonymity, encryption and weak risk assessments in the continuing rise of the illicit drug trade.
In one money laundering case reported by the Nigerian Police Force, a high-level Tramadol trafficker was linked to 103 separate bank accounts, composed of personal and corporate accounts, demonstrating risk assessment vulnerabilities exploited by criminals in the financial services.
To tackle this trend, FATF recommends the private sector improve its risk understanding of both new technologies (such as digital assets) in the role of the drug trade and of the jurisdictions where transfers are originating. According to FATF, higher risks for money laundering and terrorist financing are linked to countries with ‘significant levels of organized crime, corruption, terrorist, or other criminal activity, including source or transit countries for illegal drugs, human trafficking, smuggling, and illegal gambling, or countries subject to sanctions or embargos, or countries with weak governance.’
GeoComply’s fraud and cybersecurity solutions, based on a dataset of more than 10 billion transactions a year, enable financial organizations to understand better who they transact with. Get in touch with solutions@geocomply.com to learn more about how GeoComply’s technology better informs your decision-making, improving your risk assessment.
Read more in the FATF report.
