South America

Cartels use US piñata and clothing stores to send drug millions to Mexico

Mexican traffickers are using modest, family-owned businesses in the United States to move fortunes earned from drug sales back to Mexico, according to El País. Hispanic-owned piñata and clothing stores are among the methods used. The scheme illustrates the complexity of cross-border money laundering.

Bundles of cash on a table in dim light
Bundles of cash on a table in dim lightPhoto: Tima Miroshnichenko / Pexels
El País English1 h ago

Mexican drug traffickers are using modest businesses in the United States to move the large sums they earn from drug sales back across the border, according to an investigation by El País.

Piñata shops and clothing stores owned by Hispanic families are among the methods cartels rely on to shift the money. Such small, cash-heavy enterprises can make illicit flows harder to trace.

Experts say the schemes underline how complex the fight against cross-border money laundering has become. Authorities are working to scrutinise business records more closely in an effort to detect illegal financial flows.

RegulationBankingSouth AmericaEl País English
This article is an AI-curated summary of the original story published by El País English. The illustration is a stock photo by Tima Miroshnichenko from Pexels and is not from the original story.

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