D.E.A. launders drug money

this is being spun as a conscious tactic in bringing down the cartels...? oh, man... just exactly how stupid do they think we are...? there's no way this passes the smell test...

Undercover American narcotics agents have laundered or smuggled millions of dollars in drug proceeds as part of Washington’s expanding role in Mexico’s fight against drug cartels, according to current and former federal law enforcement officials.

The agents, primarily with the Drug Enforcement Administration, have handled shipments of hundreds of thousands of dollars in illegal cash across borders, those officials said, to identify how criminal organizations move their money, where they keep their assets and, most important, who their leaders are.

They said agents had deposited the drug proceeds in accounts designated by traffickers, or in shell accounts set up by agents.

The officials said that while the D.E.A. conducted such operations in other countries, it began doing so in Mexico only in the past few years. The high-risk activities raise delicate questions about the agency’s effectiveness in bringing down drug kingpins, underscore diplomatic concerns about Mexican sovereignty, and blur the line between surveillance and facilitating crime. As it launders drug money, the agency often allows cartels to continue their operations over months or even years before making seizures or arrests.

here's the money quote - "the D.E.A. conducted such operations in other countries"... mexico just happens to be the most recent and the one that's come to light... what about colombia...? afghanistan...? other central american countries...?

and here are my questions...

• so, what "other countries"...?
• how much money are we talking about and over what period of time...?
• where does that money really go...?
• what kind of relationship does/did the d.e.a. have with wachovia bank that was caught laundering billions of dollars in drug money...?
• what are the banks that were involved, what was the nature of the relationships and how were they established...?
• what, if anything, resulted from this tactic...? arrests...? cartels dismantled...? drug flows reduced...?

it's utterly fascinating to me that wachovia is not even mentioned in this nyt article... i'm not a reporter... i'm probably not even an adequate sidelines observer, but the first thing that leaped to mind as i was reading this was wachovia...

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