NCJ Number
177132
Date Published
1998
Length
36 pages
Annotation
Drug-related crime is discussed in terms of the relationship between drug abuse and various types of crime, police corruption as it pertains to drug trafficking, the domestic and international problem of money laundering, and legal tools available to prosecutors to address money laundering.
Abstract
Studies of the behavior of drug users have revealed that the rate of street crimes for drug users may be anywhere from four to six times as high as for nonusers. In addition, official corruption in the United States poses a major problem for drug control strategists and enforcement officials, Corruption can include bribery, extortion, favoritism, mooching, perjury, premeditated theft, and shakedowns of suspects. The problem of foreign corruption parallels that experienced in the United States and has even greater repercussions. In addition, criminals use sophisticated money-laundering techniques that include bank methods, the use of currency exchanges, and double invoicing. Laundered money is typically routed to financial institutions in foreign countries with much stricter bank secrecy laws than those in the United States. Thus, drug traffickers have considerable flexibility in the movement and storage of illicitly gained currency. Figures, photographs, and discussion questions