MONEY LAUNDERING IN HOUSTON HARRIS COUNTY, TEXAS

I was at a get together this weekend when the topic of money laundering came up. Not surprisingly, most people thought that a money laundering arrest involves millions of dollars like it is shown in movies like Scarface or Blow. While money laundering does stem from alleged drug dealing like those films the arrests in Houston, Texas do not involve that much cash. The typical case in Harris County, Texas involves a young person that is carrying a gym bag that is fully loaded while acting nervous around law enforcement, the police. What is surprising to me is that the young person typically gives the police consent to search their bag. In most instances, the police only have a hunch that is something is afoul and get lucky that the person does not know that they have the right to refuse the search. The typical “mule” is carrying $50,000 to $100,000 in cash, is under 30, and receiving less that $5,000 for transporting the money. They are a far cry from Tony Montana or George Jung.