Posts by ICAIEpress
ICAIE’s John Cassara on How Bad Actors & Threat Networks use the Global Financial System to Launder Trillions of Dollars in Dirty Money
Learn more about “How do global FinSinners—from cartels to corrupt actors—use the financial system to wash trillions?” [see below, Parts 1 and 2, produced by First American] featuring ICAIE’s Vice President and Senior Advisor, John A. Cassara — and former CIA spy and Treasury agent. Cassara joins Sarah Frano, Host – First on Fraud, and…
Read MoreFighting Organized Crime, Illicit Trade, and Corrosive Capital across the Caribbean
Statement by David M. Luna, Executive Director, ICAIE 9 December 2025 Fighting Organized Crime, Illicit Trade, and Corrosive Capital across the Caribbean It is an honor for ICAIE to join this year’s ACAMS The Assembly Caribbean 2025 and to speak during the Panel on “The Inter-Linked Webs of Organized Crime in the Caribbean”. Increasingly, violent…
Read MoreICAIE New “ILLICIT SHADOWS” Episode 1: Dispatch 1: Chemical Cartels: American Fallout – How Fentanyl Became a Weapon of War
What if the deadliest war in America isn’t being fought overseas, but right here on our streets? Across the country, a chemical weapon is claiming lives faster than any bullet. It’s not launched by missiles or drones. It’s packaged, shipped, and sold—one dose at a time. That weapon is fentanyl. The fentanyl trade has unleashed…
Read MoreThe Museum of Illicit Shadows (MIS): Shining A Light on the Dark Forces Shaping the Global Criminal Underworld
ICAIE ANNOUNCES THE CREATION OF THE MUSEUM OF ILLICIT SHADOWS (MIS) AS A FEATURED VIRTUAL KNOWLEDGE HUB IN THE FIGHT AGAINST ILLICIT ECONOMIES WASHINGTON, DC (ICAIE News) –– The International Coalition Against Illicit Economies (ICAIE), led by former U.S. diplomat and national security official, David M. Luna, announced today the creation of the digital Museum of…
Read MoreICAIE ANNOUNCES THE CREATION OF THE MUSEUM OF ILLICIT SHADOWS (MIS) AS A FEATURED VIRTUAL KNOWLEDGE HUB IN THE FIGHT AGAINST ILLICIT ECONOMIES
WASHINGTON, DC (ICAIE News) –– The International Coalition Against Illicit Economies (ICAIE), led by former U.S. diplomat and national security official, David M. Luna, announced today the creation of the digital Museum of illicit Shadows (MIS), in partnership with Shadowverse Media and RAD Original Creations (RADOC). Building on the earlier creation of its forthcoming docuseries, Illicit…
Read MoreAdvancing Public-Private Partnerships: Countering Illicit Economies and Crime Convergence – Spotlighting the Victims of Illicit Trade
In the coming months through numerous initiatives, projects, conferences, media interviews, and strategic communications, ICAIE, RADOC, and Shadowverse Media will be advancing public-private partnerships to counter illicit economies and crime convergence, and bringing greater attention to the victims of illicit trade and related harms during our digital market-intelligence programming and public awareness campaigns. The Illicit…
Read MoreIn a world where everything is connected, deep fakes are all around us in a digital universe
In a world where everything is connected, deep fakes are all around us in a digital universe. The increasing threats of deepfake identities and digital consumer uses pose serious national security and market risks where criminals and malign influence actors exploit and leverage through more pervasive umbrella of synthetic media and artificial intelligence/machine learning (AI/ML)…
Read MoreFighting Illicit Trade and Organized Crime as a Critical Force Multiplier in Chile and the Southern Cone of the Americas: The Urgency of Public-Private Partnerships in Confronting Cross-Border Illicit Vectors
With the nations of Southern Cone of South America facing an unprecedented wave of violence and institutional crises driven by the explosive growth of illicit economies, co-organizers ICAIE, the Organization of American States (OAS), Department Against Transnational Organized Crime (DTOC), and the Camara Nacional de Comercio, Servicios y Turismo de Chile (CNC) led the convening…
Read More“Greed begets criminality; money laundering enables criminals to use their dirty profits to diversify their illicit enterprises, and to finance a greater cycle of greed crimes.” David M. Luna
“Greed begets criminality; money laundering enables criminals to use their dirty profits to diversify their illicit enterprises, and to finance a greater cycle of greed crimes. When criminals make money illicitly, they buy impunity, erode trust in institutions, traffic in violence, exploit the most vulnerable, desecrate human dignity, endanger the planet, and imperil our collective…
Read MoreU.S. Military Counter-NarcoTerrorism Operations in the Americas; Mexican Cartels’ Illegal Gold Trafficking Business; and the Booming Hemispheric Illicit Trade
David M. Luna, ICAIE Executive Director In recent weeks, the U.S. military – through Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) operations – has conducted numerous strikes against two suspected Venezuelan drug vessels in the U.S. Government’s efforts to fight international drug cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs) in a campaign to disrupt their violence and the illicit trafficking operations…
Read More