Griselda Blanco Queen of Cocaine....hardly!

By Michael Hearns
http://launderingmoney.com


The recent murder of Griselda Blanco in Medellin Colombia closes a sad a and tragic chapter on the brutality of the cocaine trade. At least that is what many would like for you to believe.  Griselda Blanco's murder should be viewed for exactly what it is; another violent end to marginalized sociopath who has been given undeserved iconic status by the print and visual media.

Griselda Blanco was a sociopathic remorseless entrepreneur who slithered through a crevice in American law enforcement that was unprepared and without capable resources and foresight to recognize the tsunami of illicit dollars and power that was being ushered in through the cocaine trade of the 1980's and 90's. Griselda Blanco was an opportunistic individual who used her guile and sociopathology to insulate her as she trampled across the boundaries of decency in what we know to be an indecent business; drug trafficking. She has been given demigod status  for her harsh, abrasive, quick tempered, ruthless, conniving ways and her fast penchant for ordering the execution of those she opposed by her spineless groveling minions.  For all the bluster and for all the talk that that her hired henchmen now spout from the confines of this nation's penitentiaries they themselves had plenty of opportunity to dispatch Griselda Blanco but for either lack of conviction or lack of cerebral mass they  continued to carry out her murderous ways helping to support the fallacy of  Griselda Blanco as a Godmother of Cocaine.

Lets face facts. Griselda Blanco was an integral cocaine trafficker within the Medellin Cartel and she sanctioned, paid for, and demanded that many of her competitors, those who crossed her, and those who stood in the way of her ascension for wealth be murdered. Her distinction from her contemporaries was simply gender. Aside form that she is no different than many of the male drug traffickers who partook in their craft in the 1980's and 90's. As a society we lionize women villains because it grates against the American psyche of women being maternal, nurturing, and a source of comfort. Ma Barker, Bonnie Parker, Aileen Wournos, and Annie Palmer have all ascended to a folklore like status as queens or godmothers of crime and murder.

It is easy to view the life of Griselda Balnco from the viewfinder of a movie camera or the soft glow of a computer monitor and surmise she was the "Queen of Cocaine" or "The Godmother of Cocaine."  Not having the privilege of either but being one of the few who actually had his feet on the ground in the cocaine world for a long time  it is apparent to me that the reality is she was a large scale cocaine trafficker who clawed, cheated, and murderously existed in a business that rewards the victor regardless of the method.

Nothing more.
Nothing less.

The biggest current mistake being made is the assumption that Griselda Blanco was murdered  to settle an old score or to appease a long time  former adversary. More than likely it is because the criminal element of Medellin has been able to exist quietly in the shadow of the Mexican Cartel and Griselda Blanco's notoriety was becoming troublesome. Talks of more movies and books have filled the air. Crime and notoriety usually never mix well. In this case the celluloid film and the pen may have actually been stronger the sword.


Michael Hearns an Anti Money Laundering specialist with over 24 years of AML experience can also be found at http://www.launderingmoney.com/ and on twitter at : http://twitter.com/#!/LaunderingMoney  and http://moneylaunderingworld.blogspot.com/  

Treasury Targets Drug-Money Laundering Network, Hezbollah Fundraiser

By Samuel Rubenfeld
Wall Street Journal

The U.S. Treasury Department said Wednesday it designated four individuals and three entities under the Kingpin Act for their role in laundering drug money for alleged international drug trafficker Ayman Joumaa.
The Treasury also designated a Colombia-based individual as a terrorist for directing the Americas fundraising activity of Hezbollah, a U.S. State Department-listed foreign terrorism organization.
“The Joumaa network is a sophisticated multinational money laundering ring, which launders the proceeds of drug trafficking for the benefit of criminals and the terrorist group Hezbollah,” said David S. Cohen, the undersecretary of Treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence, in astatment.
Abbas Hussein Harb and Ibrahim Chibli were designated for collaborating with Joumaa to move millions in drug-related money, Treasury said. Harb’s Colombia and Venezuela-based organization launders money for the network through the Lebanese financial sector, while Chibli used his position as manager of a branch of Fenicia Bank in Lebanon to help Joumaa and Harb, Treasury said.
Ali Mohamad Saleh, a Lebanese Colombian national, was designated as a global terrorist for acting as a Hezbollah facilitator, directing the group’s activity in Colombia, Treasury said. Saleh was the acting leader of a support cell in Maicao, Colombia,which raised funds for Hezbollah; he solicited donations and coordinated the transfer of checks and donations to the group in Lebanon via Venezula.
Saleh was placed under Kingpin Act sanctions in December 2011 for his role as a Maicao-based money launderer for a reputed criminal organization with links to the Joumaa network.
Also placed under sanctions Wednesday are Harb’s brother, Ali Houssein Harb, and Saleh’s brother, Kassem Mohamad Saleh, for their links to the Joumaa network. They control the three companies targeted in Wednesday’s action.
Joumaa, for his part, was designated in January 2011 under the Kingpin Act. He was charged in December 2011 with cocaine distribution and money laundering through, among other venues, the Lebanese Canadian Bank, whose untainted assets were bought—with American blessings—by a Beirut-based branch of Societe Generale after Treasury issued a finding against it as a “primary money-laundering concern.”
“The [Drug Enforcement Administration] investigation of Ayman Joumaa that helped lead to today’s Treasury actions is critical to protecting the U.S. financial system from illicit activity and is another tool used to disrupt and dismantle these drug and money laundering networks,” said John Arvanitis, DEA financial operations chief, in the statement


Michael Hearns an Anti Money Laundering specialist with over 24 years of AML experience can also be found at: http://www.launderingmoney.com/ and on twitter at : http://twitter.com/#!/LaunderingMoney

Colombia says 8 Israelis involved in money laundering and drug trafficking

 

 

Local media reports claim Israeli 'former military men' also suspected of money laundering, exploitation of minors. Suspects deny allegations: 'We're legit businessmen' Eight Israelis were arrested in Colombia on suspicion of drug trafficking, money laundering and exploitation of minors, the country's chief prosecutor told local media outlets on Tuesday.

The suspects, who were described in the reports as "former military men," reside in the city of Taganga. According to one of the reports, they are suspected of sexually exploiting teenage girls.

As part of a separate investigation, the suspects are also being questioned about their ties to a local drug trafficking ring. The chief prosecutor noted that the Israeli men were under surveillance during the past year, after arousing the suspicion of local police officers and community leaders. One of the reports claimed that police obtained tape recordings, some in Hebrew, which might incriminate the suspects.

The suspects denied the allegations, claiming that they were legitimate businessmen. In January 2011, Colombia asked Israel to extradite former Israeli army Lt. Col. Yair Klein, who was convicted by a Colombian court and sentenced in absentia to nearly 11 years in prison for training drug-traffickers' assassins in the late 1980s.Klein was convicted in Colombia of criminal conspiracy in 2001 for organizing training by Israeli mercenaries in "military tactics and techniques" including bomb-making for gunmen employed by ranchers and drug traffickers.

Some of the trainees would go on to commit some of Colombia's most heinous massacres. As well, US and British investigations determined two decades ago that Klein was also involved in smuggling 400 Galil assault rifles and 100 Uzi submachine guns bought from Israeli into Colombia in 1989 when his plans to create a mercenary-ran training camp on the Caribbean island of Antigua unraveled. Arrested in Moscow in 2007, Klein spent three years in a Moscow prison on a Colombian extradition request before being freed in November 2010 after the European Court of Human Rights ruled that Colombia could not guarantee his physical safety owing to his poor human rights record.

Michael Hearns an Anti Money Laundering specialist with over 24 years of AML experience can also be found at http://www.launderingmoney.com/ and on twitter at : http://twitter.com/#!/LaunderingMoney http://moneylaunderingworld.blogspot.com/
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