FROM THE OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS

Today's indictments as a result of "Operation Cash Back" in Miami demonstrate that law enforcement will not tolerate businesses giving drug traffickers and money launderers a free hand to sanitize their illicit profits.

These indictments represent the most aggressive enforcement to date of the law that requires all businesses to report large cash transactions. Today's activities exemplify the initiatives set forth in the first National Money Laundering Strategy (the Strategy) announced last week by Treasury Secretary Lawrence H. Summers and Attorney General Janet Reno. The Strategy underscores our commitment to elevate money laundering on our enforcement agenda.

The Money Laundering Strategy recommends actions to: strengthen domestic law enforcement; enhance steps taken by financial institutions to prevent and detect money laundering; partner with state and local authorities; and bolster our efforts to have strong money laundering standards adopted - and adhered to - worldwide.

The allegation in these indictments underscore a key component of the Strategy: targeting systems used to launder money, in this case, the Black Market Peso Exchange which Colombian drug syndicates have used for years to launder profits from cocaine sales. These indictments also illustrate the way money laundering systems can tempt some otherwise legitimate businesses to knowingly violate the law.

As co-chairs of the National Money Laundering Steering Committee, we congratulate the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division, Broward County Sheriff's Office, Sunrise Police Department, Coral Springs Police Department and the U.S. Attorney's Office for their work on this nearly three-year investigation. This type of cooperation is essential to attack money laundering.