Canadian gov warns of crypto use in illegal opioid trade
The Canadian government has raised concerns about the growing use of cryptocurrencies in the trade in illicit opioids, especially in the traffic and production of fentanyl and other synthetic drugs.
In a recent operational alertThe Canada Financial Transactions Analysis Center has described how virtual currencies, including Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (Ethn), Tether (USDT) and a USD part (USDC), are being used to facilitate international drug trade while bypassing traditional financial systems.
Fintrac’s results highlight the role of Darknet markets in connection with fentanyl producers and buyers.
These platforms mainly accept cryptocurrencies and use entire services to carry out transactions. Once the funds have been released, they can be transferred to private wallets, bleached by mixing services or converted into fiduciary currencies via exchanges, complicating efforts to trace the monetary track.
Project guardian
The report is based on the work carried out under Project Guardian, a public-private initiative designed to combat the laundering of the product of synthetic opioid traffic. The main participants include police mounted in Royal Canada, Canada Post, the Canadian Imperial Commercial Bank and Canada Border Services Agency.
Project Guardian focuses on the identification of financial transaction models linked to synthetic opioid trafficking. This includes monitoring of payments for precursor chemicals, laboratory equipment and shipping services.
Micro-transceivers, who often use postal and messaging services to send small amounts of medication, are turning more and more to virtual currencies for global sales. Meanwhile, large -scale distribution networks exploit the freight corridors, in particular in Vancouver and Toronto, to transport finished precursors and opioids.
Fintrac’s alert urges financial institutions to closely monitor cryptocurrency transactions associated with Darknet markets, intelligent confidentiality or mixture services. These are often linked to synthetic opioid operations and represent a significant risk to facilitate illegal activities.
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