On Thursday, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) held its latest event focused on addressing financial crimes threats stemming from the fentanyl trade.
Part of the Promoting Regional Outreach to Educate Communities to the Threat of Fentanyl (PROTECT) series, FinCEN is working with the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation (CI) to hold 10 information exchange sessions bringing together the public and private sector to collaborate on how to fight against the financial crime threats stemming from fentanyl trafficking that devastate communities and undermine global financial systems. Thursday’s event featured Treasury’s Acting Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, Bradley T. Smith, and CI Chief, Guy Ficco, to talk about FinCEN Exchanges and the goals for the remaining four sessions in the series.
“FinCEN and CI launched the PROTECT series to strengthen the pursuit and prosecution of the financing of fentanyl trafficking as a money laundering matter in criminal investigations,” Smith said. “These sessions have served as the building blocks for the ongoing partnership that we are encouraging financial institutions and law enforcement to sustain after this day ends.”
The PROTECT series is part of Treasury’s Counter-Fentanyl Strike Force. The information exchange sessions are being held in cities that are impacted by the opioid epidemic – New York, N.Y.; Boston, Mass.; Tucson, Ariz.; Miami, Fla.; Portland, Ore.; and Denver, Colo. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 3,124 New Yorkers died from drug overdoses between March 2023 and March 2024, and 77 percent of those were from synthetic opioids, principally illicitly manufactured fentanyl. The Treasury Department said it remains committed to using all of the tools available to it to combat illicit fentanyl – from sanctions to foreign engagement to information sharing.
“By incorporating our financial industry partners into the fight against fentanyl trafficking, we are better equipped to identify suspicious financial transactions and dismantle criminal organizations that attempt to poison our communities,” Ficco said. “Our meeting today marked the sixth PROTECT event we’ve cohosted throughout the country, and CI will continue to assist our law enforcement partners by providing our financial investigative expertise to track these illicit financial transactions.”