For global law enforcement agencies tracing dirty money, all roads lead increasingly to London.
The City harbours the riches of corrupt officials, politicians and kleptocrats from all over the world. Money floods in from drug cartels. Even organisations funding terrorism find a loophole.
Requests from foreign governments for assistance to investigate money laundering and illicit assets have more than doubled in less than five years. In the footsteps of the world’s super-rich, many of whom made London their home after the financial crash of 2008, has followed unimaginable wealth. While many lower-level organised crime syndicates launder drug money through car washes, nail bars and other cash-dominated industries, the money at the top pours in through banks turning a blind eye to due diligence checks.
An industry of shell companies has sprung up and the National Crime Agency said in a strategic threat assessment that “previous estimates of £36 billion to £90 billion for all money laundering impacting on the UK” were a significant underestimate.
The investigative writer Roberto Saviano has said of the international drugs trade: “Mexico is its heart and London is its head.”