First Published Tuesday, 20 July 2010 06:54 pm
LIMA -(Dow Jones)- Peru's President Alan Garcia on Tuesday launched a new initiative to fight illegal drug trafficking, money laundering and terrorist financing.
At a televised press conference, Garcia said the secret to fighting these issues was identifying where the "fortunes" made from such activities are, and where they go.
The plan's main aim is to facilitate coordination and exchange of information between Peru's banks, financial authorities and the police, said Felipe Tam Fox, head of Peru's bank regulator, the SBS.
Tam, who attended the launch of the plan, said estimates of how much money was generated by drug trafficking in Peru were between 1% to 2% of gross domestic product. Peru's GDP was about $127 billion in 2009.
Drug money mainly enters the formal economy via large construction projects such as hotels and apartment blocks, as well purchases of new cars and luxury goods, Tam said. Another part of the money goes into the banking system, he said. In Peru, all deposits of more than $10,000 must be reported by banks to the SBS.
The launch of the plan follows U.N. concerns, announced last month, that Peru could soon overtake Colombia as the world's biggest producer of coca leaves, the raw ingredient for cocaine.