Edited by Sergio Silvestri

The proceeds from migrant smuggling exceed $10 billion annually. This is according to a FATF report analyzing the risks of money laundering and terrorist financing associated with migrant smuggling. Millions of people each year seek to escape war, political instability, persecution, and poverty, risking their lives at the hands of human traffickers who exploit them for profit.

The report emphasizes that this link between migrant smuggling and money laundering is underestimated by many countries, and the associated financial flows are rarely investigated. The FATF believes it is crucial that all countries fully understand the money laundering risks associated with migrant smuggling: money flows must be controlled, including by promoting greater collaboration with national and international authorities and the private sector. The most common methods for transferring and laundering the proceeds of migrant smuggling are hawala, the integration of the proceeds into legitimate businesses such as shops, travel agencies, and transport companies, and the use of professional money launderers.

Finally, the report contains recommendations and best practices that enable authorities to trace criminal proceeds and improve money laundering investigations. In Italy, since 2016, the UIF has been profiling various roles, from human traffickers to relatives of migrants, using pattern recognition techniques. Consequently, all STRs matching these financial behavior patterns have since been flagged by UIF financial analysts, providing insights for subsequent investigative analyses by the LEA. The UIF has conducted financial analyses of a large number of these STRs, employing network analysis techniques to identify the most likely candidates for migrant smuggling. Some emblematic case studies on the money laundering and terrorist financing risks associated with migrant smuggling have subsequently been published in the Case Study Handbook.

Furthermore, at the third EuroMed Forum of Prosecutors General, held in The Hague, the Netherlands, on 24 and 25 November 2021, a commitment was made to work, as a priority for the period 2022-2025, on strengthening judicial cooperation to combat human trafficking and migrant smuggling.