The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network issued an alert today to help financial institutions better detect financial activity related to human smuggling along the southwest border of the United States. The alert provides trends, typologies and red-flag indicators for banks to identify and report suspicious transactions potentially related to such activity.
“Financial institutions need to know that their vigilance and prompt Bank Secrecy Act reporting matters—it aids investigations tied to human smuggling and transnational organized crime, and can ultimately save lives,” said FinCEN Acting Director Himamauli Das.
According to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, human smuggling on the southwest border generates an estimated $2 billion to $6 billion in yearly revenue for illicit actors. Today’s alert builds on FinCEN’s 2020 and 2014 human smuggling and human trafficking advisories.
