International drug trafficking using hawaladars

Avoiding currency exchange rates, DTO style

This is a look at a scheme involved in trafficking drugs in Canada using a 3-party hawala system to avoid any currency actually changing hands. It was a sophisticated scheme that involved using the serial numbers from currency notes as the special password to confirm parties’ involved in the scheme with actors in Canada, India, Mexico and the US. More than a million dollars changed hands on paper and many kilograms of marijuana and cocaine smuggled from Mexico into Canada.