NCJ Number
238617
Date Published
October 2011
Length
140 pages
Annotation
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) estimates the amount of illicit financial flows (money laundering) that result from drug trafficking and other transnational organized crimes, as well as the attractiveness of various locations for such money laundering.
Abstract
This study's review of relevant reports concludes that the best estimate for the amount of criminally obtained money laundered by transnational organized crime is approximately 2.7 percent of the global gross domestic product (GDP) in 2009, which amounted to U.S. $1.6 trillion. The largest income for transnational organized crime apparently comes from the sale of illicit drugs, which accounts for 20 percent of all crime proceeds. This study's estimate of gross profits from global cocaine sales in 2009 is U.S. $84 billion, compared with approximately U.S. $1 billion paid to farmers in the Andean region. Most of the gross profits (retail and wholesale) were generated in North America (U.S. $35 billion) and in West and Central Europe (U.S. $26 billion). This report reminds readers that investments of illicit money into licit economies can cause problems that range from distortions of resources allocation to the "crowding out" of legitimate economic sectors. The largest outflows of illicit proceeds for laundering occur from countries in North America, South America, and Europe. These regions together account for 95 percent of all cocaine profit-related outflows worldwide. In terms of net outflows (outflows less inflows), the study model suggests that the main destination outside the regions where the profits were generated would be the Caribbean, with net inflows of approximately U.S. $6 billion. Extensive tables and figures and appended text of relevant sections of international legal instruments