BEIRUT AIRPORT 12 KILO COCAINE SEIZURE CAME FROM NIGERIA

The seizure, at Beirut's Hariri Airport, of twelve kilograms of cocaine, which had arrived from Kano, Nigeria, should serve as a reminder that the repatriation of narcotics profits, to Latin America, can easily be accomplished from banks located in the Middle East. Whether these drugs were destined for the growing European market is not known, but irrespective of the location of the end users/consumers,  paying for them from a Beirut bank is generally a low-risk transfer.

Whether the payment, through Panama or to banks in the tax havens of the Caribbean, is disguised as an international trade transaction, or some other fictitious business reason, the repeat nature of these types of transactions sometime will signal their true nature. Always make further inquiries, when there are wire transfers that appear to be unusually repetitious in their nature, or which do not seem to be similar to those others, in that trade or industry, that you have experienced from those jurisdictions.

Remember that good money launderers always seek to clothe their illicit transfers with legitimate covers, but that you may find some aspect of the transfers to be inconsistent with the industry that it professes to be involved in.