Bolivia Real Estate

The Prosecutors’ Drug Task Force (PDTF), begun in October 2001 with USG support, developed a professional investigative and operational capability in 2002. Composed of vetted personnel from three GOV agencies (the Public Ministry, the Federal Judicial Police, and the National Guard), this task force of three dozen prosecutors and investigators seized almost 13 metric tons of drugs (3.5 MT of cocaine, 93 KG of heroin, and 9.3 MT of cannabis), conducted follow-up investigations resulting in the arrest of more than 80 traffickers (including one kingpin), and seized numerous watercraft, real estate, and cash. Additionally, the PDTF’s intelligence and investigations supported international operations that resulted in the indictment and arrest of an additional 17 traffickers and the seizure of several additional tons of drugs. ... [Read More]

South America

Asset seizure. By law, seized assets cannot be forfeited until the owner is convicted of a drug offense and a judge orders their forfeiture. Judges commonly are tardy in issuing forfeiture orders. Problems arise in relation to the safeguarding of assets pending forfeiture. Real estate, vehicles and other personal property have historically been used by government agencies or officials and depreciated during the interim. The responsible governmental agency, CONSEP, is trying to curb this practice by establishing new inventory controls. CONSEP recently sold a relatively small amount of forfeited property, primarily vehicles. ... [Read More]

South America

Drug trafficking organizations also use Venezuela as a location to divert essential and precursor chemicals used in the production of illegal drugs in drug source countries, and use Venezuela’s modern financial, real estate and tourism sectors to launder drug profits. The GOV has introduced effective U.S.-style currency transaction reporting requirements for banks, but investigation and prosecution of money laundering is hampered by lack of legislation and effective police work. ... [Read More]

South America

Asset Seizure. By law, seized assets cannot be forfeited until the owner is convicted of a drug offense. Problems arise in relation to the safeguarding of assets pending forfeiture. Real estate, vehicles and other personal property are often used by government agencies or officials and depreciated during the ...

Corruption. Ecuadorian government policy opposes the illicit production or distribution of drugs or other controlled substances, as well as the laundering of drug money. The 1990 drug law (Law 108) provides for prosecution of any government official, including a judge, who deliberately impedes the prosecution of anyone charged under that law. Some elements of other official corruption are criminalized in Ecuadorian laws but there is no comprehensive anticorruption law to address the problem per se. In 2003 several individual members of the National Police and the Armed Forces were arrested for corrupt activities including the theft of Ecuadorian military weapons for sale to Colombian insurgents. A break-in at the CONSEP evidence warehouse in Guayaquil, during which three security guards were bound and executed, resulted in the loss of several hundred kilograms of cocaine. The exact amount could not be determined because of faulty inventory practices ... [Read More]

Chemical Controls

Brazilian law requires registration with the Federal Narcotics Police of all producers, transporters and distributors of precursor chemicals. The chemical section of the Drug Enforcement Division of the Federal Police has the authority to add or delete chemicals to the list of chemicals under control. New regulations effective in February 2003 increased the number of controlled chemicals to 146. Any person or company that is involved in the purchase, transportation, or use of these chemicals must have a certificate of approval of operation, real estate registry and other documents issued by the Federal Police. Companies are required to keep records and submit audits and reports on a monthly basis. ... [Read More]

South America

Ecuador endured a major financial and economic crisis in 1999, with most of its major banks collapsing and requiring government intervention. By the end of 1999, the Ecuadorian government controlled 75 percent of the country's banking sector. Widespread capital flight and a 180 percent devaluation of the national currency have reduced the attractiveness of Ecuador as a site for money laundering, although some narcotics profits from Colombia may have been invested in Ecuadorian real estate. Drug money laundering is illegal under the 1990 narcotics law. However, the Ecuadorian government presently has no effective means to investigate or prosecute such crimes. ... [Read More]

Chemical Controls

Traffickers extract chemicals, particularly pseudoephedrine, from pharmaceutical preparations. The 1988 UN Convention does not control pharmaceutical preparations, allowing them to be traded internationally without regard to legitimate requirements unless exporting and importing countries impose such controls. These tactics are masked by the use of front companies, false invoicing, multiple transshipments, use of free trade zones, and any other device that will conceal the true nature of the product, its ultimate recipient or its final end-use. There is some recycling of the solvents used in illicit drug manufacture; recycling cannot be used for acids, alkaline materials or oxidizing agents. Since recycling requires some sophistication, and there is a loss of chemical with each recycling pr ... [Read More]

International Narcotics Control Strategy Reports

FINANCIAL CRIMES AND MONEY LAUNDERINGMONEY LAUNDERINGOVERVIEWIn 1992, the major trends affecting money laundering policy were: (1) further sophistication of money laundering practices; (2) greater investment of drug and other illicit proceeds into established businesses, both to conceal money movements and to capitalize on illicit profits; (3) the internationalization of money laundering networks whose operations involve an ever larger number of countries and territories, regardless of their importance as financial centers or as drug producing or transit countries; and (4) the intensified involvement of the Sicilian Mafia and other criminal organizations in Europe, Asia and the Western Hemisphere who comingle proceeds from many crimes to confound investigators, and are now acting as brokers for funds unrelated to their own trafficking activities. These trends have made it more difficult to differentiate between drug-related money laundering and other forms of illegal money m ... [Read More]

M) Money Laundering and Financial Crimes

Iran’s real estate market is widely used as an alternative remittance system. For example, real estate transactions take place in Iran, but no funds change hands there; rather, payment is made overseas. This typically is done because of the difficulty in transferring funds out of Iran and the weakness of Iran’s currency, the rial. The real estate market, in at least one instance, has been used to launder narcotics-related funds. ...

Member states shall ensure that the obligations laid down in this Directive are imposed on the following institutions: credit institutions (as defined previously); financial institutions (as defined previously); and on the following legal or natural persons acting in the exercise of their professional activities: auditors, external accountants and tax advisors; real estate agents notaries and other independent legal professionals, when they participate, whether: (a) by assisting in the planning or execution of transactions for their client concerning the (i) buying and selling of real property or business entities; (ii) managing of client money, securities or other assets; (iii) opening or management of bank, savings or securities accounts; (iv) organization of contributions necessary for the creation, operation or management of companies (v) creation, operation or management of trusts, companies or similar structures; (b) or by acting on behalf of and for their client in any financial ... [Read More]