https://www.moneylaundering.com/news/fincen-raises-new-alarm-over-bulk-cash-smuggling/

U.S. officials warned banks and other financial institutions Monday to stay vigilant for transactions potentially linked to efforts to smuggle cash from the U.S. to Mexico in bulk, then back to the U.S. in armored cars and on flights, some of which may arrive from Canada.

As part of the ground-based variant of the scheme, transnational criminal organizations, or TCOs, “utilize the cover” of money services businesses and other companies in Mexico to move the cash back into the U.S. in armored cars to either deposit at banks or deliver to other MSBs, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network explained in a seven-page alert.

“Currency declarations may be represented as proof of profits of import and export businesses, while in reality, the USD [U.S. dollars] resulted from illicit activity,” FinCEN noted.

The TCOs or their associates then arrange to wire or remit the funds to other businesses they control south of the international border, or buy clothing, electronics, produce or other goods in the U.S. to resell in Mexico as part of a trade-based money laundering scheme.

In the airborne variant, armored car services load cash from MSBs and other businesses in Mexico on flights to the U.S., where other armored car services then transport the currency to secure storage facilities they own; to other MSBs, banks or credit unions; or directly to a branch of the Federal Reserve where their financial institution holds an account.

“In some instances, the cash is not transferred to a U.S.-based ACS after crossing the border and is instead transported directly by the Mexico-based ACS to a U.S.-based financial institution near the border, typically an MSB,” the bureau advised. “Some Mexico-based ACSs may be affiliated with, or share mutual ownership with, a U.S.-based ACS.”

Another variant consist of flying illicit dollars from Mexico to Canada, where an ACS then transports them across the U.S. border and hands them off to another ACS, according to the alert, which FinCEN issued two weeks before stricter cash-reporting requirements for certain MSBs in Southern California and South Texas enter into force.