In a recent Bloomberg Businessweek article, Managing Director Chris Urben explains that something changed in 2018: “Our undercovers who’d infiltrated networks were suddenly getting outbid…They couldn’t get money laundering contracts anymore.” Who was undercutting them? The answer kept coming back the same: the Chinese.
The collaboration between the Chinese and Mexican gangs enables cartels to avoid the financial system. Mexican criminal groups provide cash to Chinese brokers in the US, who then arrange to deliver either cryptocurrency or chemicals needed to make fentanyl. When speaking about how the two groups communicate, Chris sheds light on the importance of WeChat: “The fact that the Chinese have this system, it’s a huge advantage…You can’t wiretap the network. You can’t infiltrate it. You’re back to doing street-level surveillance, grabbing people one by one and trying to flip them.”
At Nardello & Co., Chris and his team of experts leverage their experience to analyze supply chains, conduct due diligence, and compliance with applicable law.
Originally published on Bloomberg Businessweek, here.
