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Gas chromatograph–mass spectrometer pictured in a GAO report
Investigations and enforcementNetwork studyProcurementUnited States

The Shipment and the Missing Name

Investigators can follow fentanyl from a chemical supplier to a payment and a tested shipment.…

A collection of U.S. dollar banknotes
Money launderingMoving the moneyNetwork studyUnited States

What Happened to the Other Dollars?

A $200 million monthly estimate became one of the most durable numbers in accounts of…

Hassan Nasrallah during a September 2019 interview
Currency exchangeInvestigations and enforcementLebanon and SyriaProfile

Thirty Minutes to Find a Translator

A Lebanese money changer said the allegations were false. Hezbollah’s leader said drugs were forbidden.…

Close view of pieces of charcoal produced in Namibia
ColombiaLebanon and SyriaMoney launderingProfileTrade and transport

The Charcoal Trader’s Other Business

When Zoom Zoom Motors S.A.R.L. filed its founding paperwork in Lebanon around 2014, the corporate registry described a conventional business:…

General cargo being handled beside a ship and trucks at the port of Cotonou.
BrokerageCase fileEuropeInvestigations and enforcementLebanon and SyriaMoney launderingMoving the moneyProcurementUnited StatesWest Africa

The Fee for Getting It Through

An undercover DEA operation tested Lebanese lawyer Joseph Asmar and facilitator Iman Kobeissi with cash presented as cocaine proceeds, from…

Robert Pelikán, Czech justice minister
Case fileEuropeInvestigations and enforcementLebanon and SyriaMoney launderingMoving the moneyProcurementTrade and transportUnited StatesWest Africa

The Arms Deal That Became a Hostage Bargain

A DEA sting led Czech police to arrest Ali Fayad and two associates in 2014. While Czech courts weighed extradition,…

Official portrait of Treasury official Marshall Billingslea.
ColombiaCurrency exchangeEuropeInvestigations and enforcementLebanon and SyriaMoney launderingMoving the moneyProfileVenezuela

The Half-Hour Before the Sanctions

In 2019 the US Treasury sanctioned Kassem Chams and his licensed exchange house in Chtaura, Lebanon, alleging drug-proceeds laundering and…