When it comes to arresting drug traffickers and dismantling organized crime, the investigation into a U.S. horse racing operation allegedly laundering money for one of Mexico’s most powerful cartels is rare – and difficult to prosecute.
Unlike most drug busts, the backbone of sophisticated money laundering cases is a complicated trail of paper – reams of bank, tax and property records – that usually take years to track. But hitting organized crime where it hurts the most – the money flow – is the most effective way to shut the crime networks down, investigators say.
“The money is much more valuable to the trafficker than the drugs are,” said John Kirby, a former federal prosecutor in San Diego, who worked on money laundering cases against the Arellano-Felix cartel, among others. “If you want to hurt these guys that’s how you do it, because that’s the end product. That’s what they really want. And if you can try to take that away, then you’re really having an impact.”
During his 10 years in the U.S. Attorney’s office, Kirby said he prosecuted hundreds of drug traffickers. “I had eight good money laundering cases. They’re just hard.”
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