Narco subs, drug cartels and Canada – new threats on the horizon to international security

Tweet Narco subs In the last few months, an increasing number of so-called narco subs, also called drug subs, have been intercepted in international waters by law enforcement (“LE“). A narco sub is usually a self-propelled semi-submersible (“SPSS“) used by drug traffickers to transport large quantities of illegal drugs for cartels to an international market. […]

US seeks money laundering forfeiture of a large cargo ship citing sanctions and correspondent banking violations

Tweet The US government unsealed a federal forfeiture complaint this week, seeking in rem forfeiture of a cargo ship that was used for sanctions avoidance to benefit North Korea which used US correspondent banks to engage in sanctions avoidance. The case has no tie to the US except for the use of correspondent banks and […]

The CIA on terrorism and tech

Tweet On June 16, 2016, the Director of the CIA testified before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence in respect of the Islamic State (ISIS), terrorism and technology generally. Here is an executive summary: The CIA said there there has never been a time when there is such a “dizzying” array of national security issues […]

‘Twitter terrorist’ a danger, says panel at ACAMS Conference

Tweet The Lawyers Weekly has a good story covering the ACAMS Conference in Toronto’s panel on terrorist financing in which we participated with FINTRAC, Standard Chartered and the OPP to discuss the risks and issues of terrorism threats in Canada. The article, available here, discusses Ontario and security concerns, as well as how FINTRAC deals […]

Moneyval calls for greater corporate transparency

Tweet The Council of Europe’s anti-money laundering group, the Committee of Experts on the Evaluation of Anti-Money Laundering Measures and the Financing of Terrorism (“Moneyval“) issued its annual report this week and called on governments to end corporate beneficial ownership. The Report noted that organized crime uses corporate structures set up on jurisdictions in which […]