The U.S. believes that vast amounts of cash from illegal drug profits are being laundered along the border with Mexico and have launched an investigation of businesses involved in exchanging pesos for dollars or casas de cambios. Officials from the U.S. Treasury, Justice and State departments detailed the problem during a hearing before the U.S. House of Representatives' Banking Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigation. An estimated $6 billion to $30 billion in drug profits is laundered through Mexico each year, according to the Chairman of the committee, Congressman Spencer Bacchus.
U.S. authorities estimate that $3.5 billion in drug profits are laundered locally through El Paso. The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in El Paso and the Texas Attorney General's office are involved in the investigation. Monetary exchange businesses are common along the U.S.-Mexico border as a service to U.S. and Mexican shoppers crossing the border. The FBI has stated that the accessibility of the shops may be one of the reasons that laundering drug money has become common in the industry. An investigation of exchange houses in Houston has already detected the laundering of millions of dollars to South America. The investigation has resulted in the closure of 47 businesses thoughout the Houston area.
While many exchange businesses along the border are legitimate, the local investigation, called Operation Gateway, is designed to eliminate those that are not. Local officials have become suspicious because the amount of cash being converted is not congruent with the economic activity in the region. Like the Houston investigation, officials will be studying the transactions of exchange houses in El Paso for improprieties. Federal law mandates that financial institutions must report transactions in amounts greater than $10,000.
Sources: El Paso Times, Diario de Juarez