December 26 2015
Criminal gangs are “contaminating democracy” in Mexico by funding political campaigns and even buying public debt to launder their dirty money, according to Edgardo Buscaglia, one of the world’s leading experts on international organised crime.
A senior research scholar in law and economics at Columbia University and the author of the new book, Money Laundering and Political Corruption, Dr Buscaglia told The Independent that a “pact of political impunity” inhibits Mexico’s government from combating financial crime.
The US government estimates that over £19bn in laundered money crosses the border with Mexico each year, while the non-profit think-tank Global Financial Integrity estimates that more than £34bn in illicit funds flows out of Mexico every year, the third-highest total in the world after China and Russia.
Dr Buscaglia claims that the amount of money generated through political corruption in Mexico, including tax evasion, bribery, embezzlement and influence-peddling, surpasses even the vast sums generated by drug trafficking. He also warned that drug cartels have begun using front businesses to buy public debt in states with unusually high deficits such as Coahuila and Chiapas.