By Elizabeth Hearst for AMLi
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has today announced it will be publishing a report on the impact of illicit proceeds generated from Fentanyl and related synthetic Opioids.
Following the conclusion of the two-day plenary, FATF revealed it would publish the report in Mid-November.
The report will include risk indicators to help identify suspicious activity as well as recommendations on best approaches to “detect and disrupt financial flows” relating to the trade.
In a statement, FATF said it was working on assisting law enforcement and other authorities in conducting financial investigations into the growing illicit trade in fentanyl and other synthetic opioids more effectively.
“In North America, the non-medical use of fentanyl has caused a record number of overdose deaths and a tramadol epidemic is having a significant impact on public health in parts of Africa. Across Asia also, more countries are also reporting growing numbers of cases,” said FATF.
“Despite the majority of countries identifying drug trafficking as a major predicate offence for money laundering, and the growing number of incidents leading to loss of life, investigations and prosecutions of laundering of proceeds from synthetic opioids trafficking remains low,” added the watchdog.
The report is expected to include recommendations on training for law enforcement and prosecutors to better understand the supply chain and role of pharmaceutical industry, as well as international cooperation between source, transit and destination countries, and public-private partnerships to share red flag information and assist the private sector to better identify and report suspicious activity.
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