Money Laundering

According to the Justice Department and the Treasury Department the money laundering of profits from illegal drug sales is the focus of an intensifying federal crackdown. And given the nation’s continuing interest in illegal drugs and rapidly expanding economy, an intensified interest in enforcing the money laundering laws may well be warranted. A key law used in this area by federal prosecutors is 18 U.S.C. 1956 -- the laundering of a monetary instrument. But the data show that individual convictions where this law was the lead charge actually peaked in 1995 at 463 and by 1998 had slumped to 380