Criminals 'Contaminating Mexico Democracy' with Unchallenged Money Laundering Activities Duncan Tucker - Independent
go to original December 25, 2015

A protest over drug money in Mexico City (Agence France-Presse)

Criminal gangs are “contaminating democracy” in Mexico by funding political campaigns and even buying public debt to launder their dirty money, according to Edgardo Buscaglia, one of the world’s leading experts on international organised crime.

A senior research scholar in law and economics at Columbia University and the author of the new book, Money Laundering and Political Corruption, Dr Buscaglia told The Independent that a “pact of political impunity” inhibits Mexico’s government from combating financial crime.

“There is a relationship between dirty money in politics and the inaction and paralysis of the Mexican government,” he said. “The Mexican government does not take action in the cases of businesses involved in laundering drug money or other financial crimes [because] in some cases these businesses finance political campaigns at local, state and federal level.”

The US government estimates that over $28bn/US in laundered money crosses the border with Mexico each year, while the non-profit think-tank Global Financial Integrity estimates that more than $50bn/US in illicit funds flows out of Mexico every year, the third-highest total in the world after China and Russia.

Dr Buscaglia claims that the amount of money generated through political corruption in Mexico, including tax evasion, bribery, embezzlement and influence-peddling, surpasses even the vast sums generated by drug trafficking. He also warned that drug cartels have begun using front businesses to buy public debt in states with unusually high deficits such as Coahuila and Chiapas.

Read the rest at Independent

Related: London 'Now the Global Money-Laundering Center for the Drug Trade' (Independent)

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