United States

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…

A collection of U.S. dollar banknotes
BrokerageMexicoMoney launderingNetwork studyUnited States

The New Competitors: Chinese Money Networks and the Lebanese Brokers

In January 2021, an American operative named Edgar Joel Martinez-Reyes slipped across the southern border…

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,…

El Dorado airport terminal in Bogotá
BrokerageCase fileColombiaInvestigations and enforcementLebanon and SyriaMoney launderingMoving the moneyPanamaUnited StatesVenezuela

The Ticket Out of Bogotá

Operation Titan grew from a Miami laundering inquiry into a Colombian–US case against Chekri Mahmoud Harb, a Bogotá broker accused…

General cargo being handled beside a ship and trucks at the port of Cotonou.
BrokerageColombiaCurrency exchangeInvestigations and enforcementLebanon and SyriaMexicoMoney launderingMoving the moneyPanamaProfileUnited StatesVenezuelaWest Africa

Ayman Joumaa’s Business Between the Cartels

Ayman Joumaa was designated by the US Treasury in 2011 and indicted the same year on charges of coordinating cocaine…

General cargo being handled beside a ship and trucks at the port of Cotonou.
Case fileCurrency exchangeEuropeInvestigations and enforcementLebanon and SyriaLogistics and shippingMoney launderingMoving the moneyTrade and transportUnited StatesWest Africa

The Bank, the Car Lots and the Money That Came Back

A civil forfeiture action in Manhattan traced at least $329 million in transfers from Lebanese exchange houses to American used-car…