The United States will work closely with Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru and Suriname in a new plan to crack down on criminal networks that profit from destruction in the Amazon, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen announced at a roundtable in Belem, Brazil, at the end of July.
The Amazon Region Initiative Against Illicit Finance will support efforts to disrupt nature crimes, especially those causing devastation in the Amazon. Globally, nature crimes are estimated to generate proceeds in the hundreds of billions of dollars annually and often entail misusing and abusing the U.S. financial system, Secretary Yellen said.
The plan has four components:
1) U.S. Treasury will coordinate with Brazil to convene a regional meeting to boost cooperation on disrupting illicit finance linked to nature crimes.
2) U.S. Treasury will organize “follow the money” trainings in the region to strengthen the capabilities of financial intelligence units, law enforcement, and other key stakeholders to pursue money laundering investigations against transnational criminal organizations, drug cartels, and others involved in nature crimes.
3) U.S. Treasury will aim to enhance information sharing with regional partners to identify illicit finance associated with nature crimes.
4) U.S. Treasury will leverage increased information sharing to support joint investigations involving corrupt actors, criminal organizations, and drug traffickers engaged in illicit activity that can overlap with or underpin nature crimes.
