Mexican Trifecta: Drug Trafficking, Money Laundering and Remittances
April 04, 2023
graph depicting remittances from US to Mexico, Criminal Drug Cartel Gang Members, Clear Bags of Drugs, Dollar Bills flying from US to Mexico on Map
As remittances to Mexico from the United States continue to boom, at least $4.4 billion of the $58.5 billion in money transfers last year may be the fruit of narcotics trafficking and other criminal activity, according to a new report.
Red flags include sharply rising remittances from areas with relatively few Mexican nationals. Minnesota, home to a Mexican-origin population of about 200,000 (barely 0.5 percent of the officially reported U.S. total), is cited as an example. Despite being on America’s northern border, the Gopher State was the third biggest cash remitter to Mexico last year behind California and Texas, which have huge Mexican populations.
“The most powerful reason to believe it’s not just Mexicans sending remittances from Minnesota is that the amount sent is equivalent to the gross annual income of all Mexicans [in the state], making it financially impossible,” stated the Mexico-based think tank Signos Vitales.
Last year, Mexico-bound remittances from Minnesota hit $4.7 billion, a 585 percent increase from five years ago.
https://www.fairus.org/blog/2023/04/04/mexican-trifecta-drug-trafficking-money-laundering-and-remittances
