Pubdate: Wed, 11 May 2011 Source: Nelson Star (CN BC) Copyright: 2011 Black Press Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/4kNvY8sy Website: http://www.nelsonstar.com Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4866 NELSON NAMED MONEY LAUNDERING HOTSPOT The agency that tracks money laundering in Canada has flagged the Nelson area for "high levels" of suspicious transactions over the last decade, due to the marijuana trade. The Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre issued a report this week that analyzed 300,000 reports from banks and credit unions of questionable activity between November 2001 and August 2010. A chart showed between 1,000 and 2,000 reports per 100,000 population in the Regional District of Central Kootenay over that time -- much higher than in other regions of the province. "One notable finding is that there are high levels of ... reporting in regions of British Columbia 's interior near Nelson and Fort St. John that have been identified in the media as being home to organized criminal activity," the report reads, citing a 2010 RCMP news release about the local seizure of a helicopter involved with drug smuggling. Suspicious transactions can include large cash deposits or multiple wire transfers. The full document can be found at http://tinyurl.com/3h4u9qy - --- MAP posted-by: Richard R Smith Jr.