Colombia and Europe Join Forces Against Money Laundering

November 1, 2016

Colombia is to join Europol’s Focal Point SUSTRANS project, which targets organized crime networks involved in money laundering. The formal membership to Focal Point SUSTRANS entails greater engagement for Colombia, which is now in a position to support all of the Focal Point’s members, especially through the exchange of criminal information and via operational interactions. This will allow for a significant increase in the ability to identify, investigate and prosecute perpetrators of money laundering activities.

The association of Colombia will prove to be beneficial for the overall activities of this Anti-Money Laundering European Project, not least because Colombia can provide key information, operational and strategic support to Europe given their geographic location and the traditional links between European organized crime groups and their Colombian counterparts, especially regarding the money laundering activities of major international cocaine trafficking cartels.

Kylie Bull began her career in television news at ITN in the UK before moving to print journalism. She has been an editor at IHS Jane's for sixteen years, where she continues today, and was recently the managing editor at Homeland Security Today. Bull has reported on a wide variety of security, geopolitical and counterterrorism subjects and has interviewed world leaders such as Russian President Vladimir Putin and UK Prime Minister Theresa May.

Ransomware and the propulsion of the extortion economy has rapidly eclipsed into a national priority. Recently, we observed the catastrophic impact of a widescale ransomware attack impacting gas pipelines and raising national gas prices overnight.