ABC 6 INVESTIGATORS: Cartel Cash Pipeline Runs Smack Through Central Ohio скачать в хорошем качестве

ABC 6 INVESTIGATORS: Cartel Cash Pipeline Runs Smack Through Central Ohio

COLUMBUS (Tom Sussi) - It's not listed on the New York Stock Exchange, but a very precious cargo moves through Ohio around the clock. The profits of major drug cartels based in Mexico and South America. And when it comes to law enforcement intercepting the profits of these criminal organizations, ABC 6 Investigators learned that Ohio ranks fourth in the nation. "Over 50 percent of the United States' population is located within 500 miles of Columbus, Ohio," said Agent Steve Francis with Homeland Security Investigations." Therefore you get a lot of traffic coming in and out of this area. It's a hub for all illegal activity." The Columbus Bulk Cash Smuggling Task Force is tasked with policing the cartel cash pipeline that runs smack through Central Ohio. Homeland Security Investigations run the unit which is made up of federal, state and local law enforcement. Its goal is simple. "We go after the money," said Francis. "The objective is to follow the money and take that element out of these criminal organizations." Francis said "the money's the life-blood of any criminal organization." Thanks to this unit, some of those organizations are hemorrhaging green. Since February of 2012, when the unit started, it's confiscated nearly six-million dollars in cold cash. Money put right back into this program to fight crime here in Ohio. Following this money trail is challenging work. "These criminal organizations use all types of different methods," said Francis. "Whether it's vehicles, planes or trains." Recently, a thick stack of one-hundred dollar bills was found stuffed inside a car seat. "It's always surprising to me in the number of ways they try to conceal things in a vehicle," said Lt. Steven Tucker with Franklin County Sheriff's Office. "Fortunately, in Columbus we're very adept to that. We're very aggressive and know what to look for and I think we're putting a huge dent in that." And not just cartel cash either. To date, the unit has seized 49 kilos of cocaine, 20 kilos of heroin, more than a thousand pounds of marijuana, and other illegal drugs including meth. More than one-hundred guns have also been taken off the streets. "If you have the ability to take the profits from these organizations you're going to disrupt those organizations," explained Francis. The task force has also disrupted the cartel's workforce. More than 300 people have been arrested during undercover stings. Most of them "illegals" hired by the cartels to smuggle back their profits.