Financial investigations
U . S . Department of the Treasury
• Press Releases : Some press releases are specifically related to entities or individuals who are designated by OFAC due to their involvement in drug trafficking . They can also provide details about these entities and individuals , such as biographical identifiers . 45
Office of Foreign Assets Control ( OFAC )
• Counter Narcotics Trafficking Sanctions : OFAC administers a number of different sanctions programs , including the Counter Narcotics Trafficking Sanctions , which is focused on drug trafficking organizations and entities or individuals involved in drug trafficking . 46
U . S . Department of State
• International Narcotics Control Strategy Reports : The reports are published by the Department of State to Congress and prepared in accordance with the Foreign Assistance Act . They describe the efforts of key countries to attack all aspects of the international drug trade . Volume I covers drug and chemical control activities . Volume II covers money laundering and financial crimes . 47
Financial Action Task Force ( FATF )
• Operational Issues — Financial Investigations Guidance : This guidance can help countries better understand LE ’ s role in the larger anti-money laundering / counter-terrorist financing ( AML / CTF ) context , specifically addressing the role of financial investigations . This guidance report aims to assist policymakers as well as practitioners by providing ideas and concepts that they can incorporate into their AML / CTF frameworks that might lead to more effective financial investigations . 48
• Money Laundering from Fentanyl and Synthetic Opioids : The report looks at the way proceeds are laundered from synthetic opioid trafficking . Organized crime groups use a range of methods , including bulk cash smuggling , cash couriers , trade-based money laundering and virtual assets ( crypto ), as well as shell companies and the services of professional money launderers . 49
Financial Crimes Enforcement Network ( FinCEN )
• FinCEN Advisory Alerts Financial Sector to Fentanyl Trafficking Schemes : This document can assist financial institutions ( FIs ) in detecting and reporting schemes related to the trafficking of fentanyl and other synthetic opioids . 50
Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada ( FINTRAC )
• Operational Alert : Laundering of the Proceeds of Fentanyl Trafficking : This document can assist FIs in detecting indicators related to the trafficking of fentanyl and other synthetic opioids . 51
International cooperation
• Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units ( FIUs ): As a global organization , the Egmont Group facilitates and prompts the exchange of information , knowledge , and cooperation among member FIUs . 52
• Camden Asset Recovery Inter-agency Network : This informal network of LE and judicial practitioners is dedicated to asset tracing , freezing , seizure and confiscation . It is an inter-agency network . Each member state is represented by an LE officer and a judicial expert ( prosecutor , investigating judge , etc ., depending on the legal system ). 53
Private sector engagement and public-private partnerships
• Partnering in the Fight Against Financial Crime : Data Protection , Technology and Private Sector Information Sharing : The report aims to help jurisdictions responsibly enhance , design and implement information collaboration initiatives among private sector entities in accordance with data protection and privacy rules , so that the risks associated with increased sharing of personal data are appropriately taken into account . 54
ACAMS Today June – August 2023 87