Cash smugglingCartels eye Puerto Rico as new cash smuggling route

Published 23 December 2011

Over the past year law enforcement officials in Puerto Rico have seized an increasing amount of smuggled cash, indicating that cartels may be shifting their attention to the island as an alternative route to transport drug money

Over the past year law enforcement officials in Puerto Rico have seized an increasing amount of smuggled cash, indicating that cartels may be shifting their attention to the island as an alternative route to transport drug money.

For the twelve months prior to October, Homeland Security Investigations reported that seizures of cash increased 68 percent to nearly $2.4 million, while for that same period the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) found that seizures had more than doubled to roughly $18 million.

The total amount seized in Puerto Rico pales in comparison to what is interdicted along the U.S.-Mexico border, but the increasing activity has drawn the attention of law enforcement agencies. In a recent report, the Justice Department labeled Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands as a “major bulk cash movement center.”

Mexico continues to be the number one country for placement of illicit proceeds, but for being a small jurisdiction, comparatively, we’re not that far behind,” said Angel Meléndez, deputy special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Puerto Rico.

Pedro Janer, the acting special agent in charge of the DEA’s Caribbean division, attributes the increasing activity in the region to tighter security along the U.S.– Mexico border.

Every time we put a major squeeze at the border they have to go someplace else,” Janer said. “Well, the second preferred route is the Caribbean. They are always going back and forth.”

Puerto Rico is particularly attractive to smugglers due to the numerous flights and ships bound for the island each day.

The increasing cash shipments also come as part of a broader surge in drug activity on the island. Drug seizures and drug-related violence have skyrocketed over the last year, with the country suffering from an all-time high of more than 1,100 homicides.

Testifying on the Hill, Pedro Pierluisi, the island’s Congressional representative, made a plea for assistance.

We are in a crisis in the Caribbean,” Pierluisi said.