The U.S. Treasury has announced a new FinCEN Exchange series titled “Combating and Obstructing Money Movements Associated with Narcotics and Drug Trafficking Organizations” (COMMAND) focused on combating narcotics trafficking and related financial crime in support of Executive Order 14157, which designated cartels as foreign terrorist organizations and specially designated global terrorists. As part of the launch of this series, FinCEN traveled to a key port of entry in El Paso, Texas, and met with law enforcement to deepen their relationship and support law enforcement investigations. This is FinCEN’s second Exchange event in El Paso in the past year.

This initiative will enhance public-private collaboration, with an emphasis on identifying illicit drug money flows, especially those tied to fentanyl and synthetic opioids. COMMAND intends to utilize community banks as frontline partners, encouraging financial institutions to participate in FinCEN Exchange events to enhance their BSA/AML efforts. The program is invitation-based and determined by FinCEN in collaboration with law enforcement, taking into account the relevance to the particular subject. For those institutions that do receive an invitation, participation is voluntary.

You can read the full release here.

CCI will keep you updated as the series rolls out!

 

Victoria Peterson, CCBCO