Bermuda Triangle History

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE INTERNATIONAL NARCOTICS CONTROL STRATEGY REPORTMARCH 1995BUREAU FOR INTERNATIONAL NARCOTICS AND LAW ENFORCEMENT AFFAIRS FINANCIAL CRIMES AND MONEY LAUNDERING11995 INTERNATIONAL NARCOTICS CONTROL STRATEGY REPORTOVERVIEWThere were a number of significant accomplishments in the world of money laundering in 1994, and a number of new and/or intensified concerns. Accomplishments and concerns are summarized here and explained in detailed sections below.Accomplishments. Several financial center governments, such as Singapore and Panama, have adopted broad, new anti-money laundering policies and/or laws, and a number of governments were in the final stages of presenting/adopting new legislation.The Financial Action Task Force completed the evaluations of each of its 26 member governments, all conducted by outside experts and all culminating in recommendations for changes and improvements which will be monitored through continuing examinations be ... [Read More]

Money Laundering and Financial Crimes

Thailand (Primary). Thailand's role as a transit country for Southeast Asian narcotics makes it a prime target for money launderers. Thailand's geography and economy are factors that help account for this role. Northern Thailand forms part of the Golden Triangle with Burma and Laos. Although Thailand has made significant strides in reducing the production of illicit narcotics, it still serves as a major narcotics trafficking route from the Golden Triangle because of its good transportation infrastructure and international connections. Thailand's sizable Chinese minority population maintains economic and cultural ties to China, Singapore, Hong Kong, and to Chinese communities in other Southeast Asian countries. This community is a particularly intensive user of the alternative remittance systems (ARS), which facilitates the transfer and laundering of criminal proceeds from narcotics consuming countries such as the United States to producer countries such as Burma and Laos. Corrup ... [Read More]

Policy and Program Developments

Overview for 2000For U.S. international antidrug programs, the year 2000 was one of important accomplishments and serious challenges. Long-term cooperation with our Western Hemisphere allies continued to bear fruit. We successfully attacked drug crop expansion, enhanced interdiction efforts, worked to arrest leaders of drug trafficking syndicates, and narrowed the opportunities for the drug trade to launder drug profits. At the same time, we provided our partners essential training assistance to strengthen their law enforcement and judicial systems, while helping them with programs to reduce drug consumption in their own countries. The year’s most noteworthy accomplishment was to keep the total Andean coca crop from expanding significantly. Six years of joint ... [Read More]

M) Money Laundering and Financial Crimes

Thailand. Thailand’s location makes it a major risk for money laundering, as it is a transit country for Southeast Asian narcotics. Northern Thailand forms part of the Golden Triangle with Burma and Laos. Although Thailand has taken significant steps toward reducing the production of illicit narcotics, it still serves as a major narcotics-trafficking route for the Golden Triangle, because of its good transportation infrastructure and international connections. Smuggling of narcotics and contraband and evasion of customs duty are significant problems. Thailand is also a major production, transit and distribution country for counterfeit goods. Drug traffickers use Thailand’s banking system to hide and move their proceeds. The underground banking system is also widely in use as a money laundering method. Money is transported in bulk from the United States to other Asian countries, and ultimately moved to Thailand. Gambling dens and underground lotteries account for a significant po ... [Read More]

US Department Of State Post Report

Argentina is South America’s second largest country, after Brazil, in land area and population. It occupies most of the continent’s southern region between the Andes Mountains and the Atlantic Ocean. Argentina stretches from 22°S to 55°S latitude — a distance of about 2,300 miles — and is shaped roughly like an inverted triangle that tapers southward from a base about 1,000 miles wide. It borders on five South American countries: Chile to the west, Bolivia and Paraguay to the north, and Brazil and Uruguay to the northeast. ... [Read More]

US Department Of State Post Report

de Silva, C.R. Sri Lanka, A History. New Delhi: Vikas Publishing House Pvt., Ltd., 1987. This excellent work is the first of a specially commissioned series to bridge the gap between the two different emphases—those of the colonialist and the nationalist—on the history of the Afro-Asian nations. ...

deSilva, K.M. A History of Sri Lanka. London: Oxford University Press, and Berkeley: University of California Press, 1981. The first general history of Sri Lanka—ancient, medieval, and modern—in one handy volume. It is intended mainly as a convenient pr‚cis of the available state of the historical arts on the island and satisfies that purpose to good effect. ... [Read More]

US Department Of State Post Report

Czech law requires that cars be equipped with catalytic converters, left and right outside rear view mirrors, mud flaps for rear tires, a rear fog light, a European first-aid kit and “triangle” emergency breakdown marker (available locally or at the PX in Germany), a set of spare fuses and bulbs, one spare wheel screw, and one spare spark plug. Snow tires are recommended for winter driving and radials provide better traction in cities. Austrian and German authorities often require that vehicles entering their territory in winter have tire chains. ... [Read More]

Persian Mirrors: The Elusive Face of Iran

I remember being out in a little village outside of Paris in the drizzling snow when the Iranians were trying to figure out where the plane should go and who would be permitted to board. Finally, at about 7:00 p.m., the names of journalists authorized to board were tacked on tree trunks. In the rain, we had to turn over five $100 bills, so we could get on the plane that night. As it turned out, the plane trip was more dangerous than any of us ever knew. It was only in researching my book that I discovered that the Commander of the [Iranian] Air Force, General Rhaby, had brought a plan to blow up the plane to the Carter administration. He took it to Zbigniew Brzezinski, who was then the National Security Adviser. Brzezinski took it to President Carter, who took one look at it and said, "No way. I won't have anything to do with it." In an interview Brzezinski explained, "The United States is not in the habit of assassinating people. … a legitimate question to ask is whether the U.S. is i ... [Read More]