Police, federal agents raid 25 'people's banks'
Court papers show drug dealers have been using remitting stores to send millions of dollars overseas
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Two hundred federal agents and police raided 25 money remitter stores yesterday in the metropolitan area, seeking more than two dozen people charged with turning the businesses into money-laundering operations for the leaders of drug cartels.Most of the raids and arrests by agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, backed by city and state police, occurred in Queens, but there were some in Westchester and on Long Island.
The remitter stores, sometimes called "people's banks" and usually located in poorer or minority neighborhoods, are legal businesses that remit - or send - money by wire, usually to family members overseas.According to court papers filed with the raids, "the typical legitimate customer of the ethnic money remitter is an immigrant who does not have the appropriate documentation necessary to open a bank account or for whom maintaining a bank account is too costly."In addition, the remitter shops often serve as a sort of community service center, housing travel agencies, cell phone companies, car insurance agents, and places to make long-distance phone calls, the court papers say.But drug dealers also have been using remitting stores to send hundreds of millions of dollars overseas, usually to Colombia, according to the papers filed by office of Roslynn Mauskopf, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, which coordinated the raids along with the bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Two hundred federal agents and police raided 25 money remitter stores yesterday in the metropolitan area, seeking more than two dozen people charged with turning the businesses into money-laundering operations for the leaders of drug cartels.Most of the raids and arrests by agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, backed by city and state police, occurred in Queens, but there were some in Westchester and on Long Island.
The remitter stores, sometimes called "people's banks" and usually located in poorer or minority neighborhoods, are legal businesses that remit - or send - money by wire, usually to family members overseas.According to court papers filed with the raids, "the typical legitimate customer of the ethnic money remitter is an immigrant who does not have the appropriate documentation necessary to open a bank account or for whom maintaining a bank account is too costly."In addition, the remitter shops often serve as a sort of community service center, housing travel agencies, cell phone companies, car insurance agents, and places to make long-distance phone calls, the court papers say.But drug dealers also have been using remitting stores to send hundreds of millions of dollars overseas, usually to Colombia, according to the papers filed by office of Roslynn Mauskopf, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, which coordinated the raids along with the bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
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posted by jillosophy at 2/07/2007 04:45:00 PM
2 Comments:
Hey Jillosophy,
We're getting ready to start up a new illegal immigration blogburst. If you're interested shoot me an email and I'll get you the info.
Thanks,
Jake
Well said.
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