ICAIE New Policy Brief – Mobile Payments and Mirror Swaps: Money Laundering Threats That Are Getting Worse (July 2023)

This ICAIE policy brief will summarize mobile payments (M-payments) evolution as a money laundering methodology. The initial focus will be on the use and growth of M-payments and resultant money laundering in the developing world. The policy brief will then describe the Black Market Peso Exchange (BMPE) and the introduction of mirror swaps or the…

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Rapidly Transforming Hemispheric Security Threat Environment in Latin America: ICAIE Briefing to SOUTHCOM, 9 June 2023

An honor for ICAIE to brief U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) and other partners in Miami this week on the Rapidly Transforming Hemispheric Threat Environment including transnational organized crime, illicit trade, terrorist financing, money laundering/TBML and corruption across Latin America. ICAIE collaborates across sectors to leverage threat intelligence and harness collective action to disrupt and dismantle…

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China Desk: Interview with ICAIE’s John Cassara

China Desk (Federal Newswire) June 2023 Interview with ICAIE’s John Cassara on his new book China – Specified Unlawful Activities: CCP Inc., Transnational Crime and Money Laundering. Cassara is an expert in anti-money laundering and counter-terror finance, with special expertise in money laundering in the Middle East and the growing threat of alternative remittance systems…

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Transnational Criminal Organizations: The Menacing Threat to the U.S. Homeland

Testimony of Douglas FarahPresident, IBI Consultants, LLCBefore theHouse Committee on Homeland SecuritySubcommittee on Counterterrorism, Law Enforcement and Intelligence The multi-billion dollar illicit economies in Latin America, centered on the cocaine trade but diversifying to new commodities and activities, are undergoing profound restructuring with long-term strategic repercussions for the United States and its allies in the…

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Internationalizing the Fight against Hubs of Illicit Trade (HIT) and Criminalized Markets

In February 2021, the Terrorism, Transnational Crime and Corruption Center (TraCCC) and its Anti-Illicit Trade Institute (AITI) embarked on a two-year research project to examine “Hubs of Illicit Trade” around the world. Academic literature and studies have shown hubs of illicit trade and illicit economies facilitate the production, illegal trade, and trafficking of counterfeit and…

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Spring ICAIE Policy Brief: Emerging Transnational Organized Crime Threats in Latin America: Converging Criminalized Markets & Illicit Vectors

Now Latin America is facing a “perfect storm of reinforcing economic, criminal and political
stresses that is eroding its institutions and economic prospects, radicalizing its people,
and undermining its commitment to democracy and the rule of law.” The malign influence of China, Russia, and Iran exacerbates regional anti-crime strategies.

In this context we identify five emerging security trends that offer new challenges to law enforcement and policy communities in the
region that are far reaching, and threaten to accelerate the negative trends unless dealt with effectively.

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ICAIE HFSC Statement for the Record – Follow the Money: The CCP’s Business Model Fueling the Fentanyl Crisis

Today, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is arguably one of the world’s biggest transnational illicit trade syndicates and a prolific enabler of crime and corruption globally, whose complicity in the fentanyl illegal trade is killing thousands of Americans every month. Find below the official ICAIE submission for the Congressional on March 23, 2023 hearing on…

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The Dark Side of Illicit Economies and TBML: Free Trade Zones, Ports, and Financial Safe Havens

The ICAIE report, “The Dark Side of Illicit Economies and TBML: Free Trade Zones, Ports, and Financial Safe Havens” and recommendations outline the importance of public-private partnerships to counter illicit trade and TBML. ICAIE highlights the importance of leveraging strategic intelligence, network analytics, and pattern-of-life forensics to disrupt the logistics, financial wherewithal, and corruptive influence…

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New Report: The PRC, Feudal Governors and No Accountability – LITHIUM MINING IN ARGENTINA’S NORTHWEST DISTRICT

This study examines how the government of Argentina has allowed the PRC to take over multiple strategic interests, including the vital lithium trade. China’s ability to create a deeply uneven playing field through corrupt practices and deception, with the complicity of the Argentine national and provincial governments, not only shields PRC companies from fair competition, but also from accountability, environmental oversight and community participation.  Douglas Farah, IBI Consultants, LLC, March 2023.

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