WASHINGTON—During Overdose Awareness Week as the nation honors and remembers loved ones lost to the drug overdose epidemic, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) reminds financial institutions to monitor for and report suspicious transactional activity related to the illicit fentanyl supply chain and the trafficking of illicit fentanyl and other synthetic opioids. FinCEN continues its efforts to marshal resources and expertise to combat the trafficking of illicit fentanyl through its participation in the Department of the Treasury’s Counter-Fentanyl Strike Force.
FinCEN has previously published the following resources on the trafficking of fentanyl, fentanyl analogues, and other synthetic opioids and the precursor chemicals and associated manufacturing equipment needed to synthesize these deadly drugs:
- Supplemental Advisory on the Procurement of Precursor Chemicals and Manufacturing Equipment Used for the Synthesis of Illicit Fentanyl and Other Synthetic Opioids (June 2024)
- Advisory to Financial Institutions on Illicit Financial Schemes and Methods Related to the Trafficking of Fentanyl and Other Synthetic Opioids (August 2019)
FinCEN continues to work with law enforcement and the private sector to combat the opioid crisis. FinCEN is convening information exchange sessions to bring together the public and private sectors for discussions on ways to deepen collaboration against financial crime threats that devastate communities and undermine the integrity of the global financial system.
This past spring, FinCEN partnered with IRS Criminal Investigation (CI) to launch its “Promoting Regional Outreach to Educate Communities on the Threat of Fentanyl” (PROTECT) series of FinCEN Exchange events that are being held in U.S. cities that are highly impacted by the opioid epidemic as part of Treasury Department’s Counter-Fentanyl Strike Force. To date, PROTECT events have been held in Boston, Massachusetts; Tucson, Arizona; Miami, Florida; and just this month, FinCEN and CI hosted two additional PROTECT events in Portland, Oregon and Denver, Colorado. The Portland event, held on August 13, included a threat briefing from government officials on fentanyl and drug trafficking organizations. The Denver event, held on August 20, included region-specific insight from the Rocky Mountain High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area teams on money laundering trends.
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FinCEN Exchange is a voluntary public-private partnership that convenes relevant stakeholders, including law enforcement agencies and financial institutions. FinCEN Exchange aims to protect our national security and our citizens from harm by combatting money laundering and its related crimes, including terrorism, through public-private dialogue that encourages, enables, and acknowledges industry focus on high-value and high-impact activities. FinCEN Exchange began in 2017 and was codified as part of the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020.
“Promoting Regional Outreach to Educate Communities on the Threat of Fentanyl” (or PROTECT) is a series of ten FinCEN Exchange sessions that will be held through the remainder of 2024 in U.S. cities that are highly impacted by the opioid epidemic as part of the Treasury Department’s Counter-Fentanyl Strike Force, which is in partnership with IRS Criminal Investigation. The series is specifically designed to work with regional and local banks that are deeply connected to their communities and offer unique perspectives on the opioid crisis and will focus on how law enforcement can best support their efforts to monitor activity that may be tied to the illicit trafficking of fentanyl. At these exchanges, federal officials brief on information critical to tracking these illicit financial flows, including typologies and red-flag indicators of fentanyl-related activity, and discuss what types of information are particularly valuable when financial institutions report suspicious activity. The PROTECT series was launched in collaboration with other government partners, including the Drug Enforcement Administration, Homeland Security Investigations, Customs and Border Protection, the U.S. Secret Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Justice Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section, various U.S. Attorney’s Offices, and local law enforcement agencies.
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