Five US enforcement agencies form new digital currency anti-crime task force
A diverse group of United States enforcement agencies have made official their cooperation on crimes related to the darknet and digital currency with the announcement of the Darknet Marketplace and Digital Currency Crimes Task Force on June 20. The new organization will target “cryptocurrency-enabled crimes” such as drug trafficking, money laundering, theft of personal information and child exploitation.
Representatives of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Arizona, the Office for U.S. Attorneys, Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), Drug Enforcement Administration and Postal Inspection Service signed a memorandum of understanding on the new task force last week.
Related: How the IRS seized $10B worth of crypto using blockchain analytics
The agencies have been working together since 2017 and have seen a rise in the use of cryptocurrency in that time. According to its statement:
Law enforcement worldwide has been forming specialized units for crypto-related enforcement. Interpol created a crypto crimes unit late last year. Police in Canadian cities have begun forming local task forces. The new task force will have an international reach, as the HSI has 93 overseas locations in 56 countries.
Working with businesses and industries that manage the very financial systems terrorists and criminal organizations seek to exploit, Homeland Security Investigations seized nearly $4 BILLION in cryptocurrency from illicit activities last year. #fraud #police #AML #finance pic.twitter.com/VbGz3bj2ny
In the United States, the Federal Bureau of Investigation formed a Virtual Asset Exploitation Unit in February that will work with the Justice Department National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team. The Securities and
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