Cayman Island Hell
2002
Treasury Secretary O'Neill joined British Ambassador Sir Christopher Meyer and British Virgin Islands Governor Frank Savage in signing a tax information exchange agreement with regard to the British Virgin Islands. O’Neill stated that the agreement was targeted at stopping funds associated with terrorism, money laundering, and tax evasion that often move almost effortlessly across national boundaries. ... January 25, 2002: Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill and Bahamian Finance Minister William Allen signed an agreement committing the United States and the Bahamas to sharing tax information in an effort to cut off funding to terrorist organizations. The United States had recently concluded similar tax-information exchange agreements with the Cayman Islands and Antigua and Barbuda. ... [Read More]
Europe and Central Asia
Corruption. Corruption has been the most significant problem within Georgia's law enforcement agencies. Georgia's anti- corruption efforts continue to be hampered by the widespread tolerance of corruption within Georgian society. During 2001 the Government of Georgia formed a commission to reform the law enforcement agencies (so-called "power ministries"). The commission developed a strategy for reorganization that was forwarded to the Georgian National Security Council; however, no significant changes were made. In any case, none of these proposed measures can truly ameliorate the situation given the low wages of officials and poor standard of behavior from those in charge that nourish wide-scale, low level corruption. The new hope of eradicating corruption within the system emerged with the appointment of a new Minister of Internal Affairs, who has publicly and repeatedly announced his commitment to combating corruption and the trafficking ... [Read More]
Europe and Central Asia
AlbaniaI. Summary Drug trafficking is a significant problem in Albania, which is a major transit country for heroin from Afghanistan and Turkey destined for markets throughout Europe. Organized crime groups use Albania as a transit point for drug and other types of smuggling due to the country’s strategic location, weak police and judicial systems, and porous borders. The most common illegal drugs are heroin, marijuana, and to a lesser extent, cocaine. Heroin is typically transported through the "Balkans Route" of Turkey-Bulgaria-Macedonia-Albania, and on to Italy, Greece and the Netherlands. Cocaine is smuggled from South America, via the United States, Italy, Spain, Greece or the Netherlands, and ... [Read More]
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