Mexico seeks to fill drug war gap with focus on dirty money

By Ken Ellingwood and Tracy Wilkinson / Los Angeles Times

Tainted drug money runs like whispered rumors all over Mexico's economy -- in gleaming high-rises in beach resorts such as Cancun, in bustling casinos in Monterrey, in skyscrapers and restaurants in Mexico City that sit empty for months.

Officials say the tide of laundered money could reach as high as $50 billion, a staggering sum equal to about 3 percent of Mexico's legitimate economy.

Officials on both sides of the border now have begun taking tentative steps to stem the flow of dirty money.

www.bellinghamherald.com/2011/11/30/2291847/mexico-seeks-to-fill-drug-war.html