FinCEN recently issued a Supplemental Advisory on the Procurement of Precursor Chemicals and Manufacturing Equipment Used for the Synthesis of Illicit Fentanyl and Other Synthetic Opioids. The Advisory urges financial institutions to remain on the lookout for suspicious activity related to the trafficking of fentanyl and other opioids.
Criminal organizations based in Mexico have become the predominant traffickers responsible for bringing illegal fentanyl and other synthetic opioids into the United States. These organizations buy chemicals and equipment from China-based suppliers and then synthesize illegal fentanyl and other synthetic opioids. While precursor chemicals and manufacturing equipment may be purchased directly from suppliers based in China, “chemical brokers” may also be involved. These brokers may represent multiple suppliers as well as potential buyers and use these connections to buy and sell supplies and equipment on their clients’ behalf. Use of a “middleman” often makes the true purpose of the transaction(s) even less transparent.
This Advisory provides fourteen additional Customer/Counterparty Profile and Transactional red flags of activity related to the precuring precursor chemicals and equipment for the synthesis of fentanyl and other synthetic opioids.
FinCEN puts out these types of Advisories from time to time. Not only do they help increase a financial institutions awareness to specific types of suspicious and/or illegal activity, but they also contain special instructions for any SAR filings related to the noted activity. A listing of all FinCEN Advisories can be found on their website.
Published
2024/07/03