NELSON NAMED MONEY LAUNDERING HOTSPOT

The agency that tracks money laundering in Canada has flagged the
Nelson area for "high levels" of suspicious transactions over the last
decade, due to the marijuana trade.

The Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre issued a report
this week that analyzed 300,000 reports from banks and credit unions
of questionable activity between November 2001 and August 2010.

A chart showed between 1,000 and 2,000 reports per 100,000 population
in the Regional District of Central Kootenay over that time -- much
higher than in other regions of the province.

"One notable finding is that there are high levels of ... reporting in
regions of British Columbia 's interior near Nelson and Fort St. John
that have been identified in the media as being home to organized
criminal activity," the report reads, citing a 2010 RCMP news release
about the local seizure of a helicopter involved with drug smuggling.

Suspicious transactions can include large cash deposits or multiple
wire transfers.

The full document can be found at http://tinyurl.com/3h4u9qy