Illustration: Zach Hackman for Bloomberg Businessweek
Crypto
Drug Cartels Are Shifting Their Money Laundering to Crypto. Cops Can’t Keep Up
A vast ecosystem supported by the gig economy has sprung up to clean all that cash.
The pitch was simple: Crypto for “cold hard cash.” No names. No questions asked.
David Scotese posted his ads online, but the transactions played out in the open, at Victory Park in Murrieta, California. The park was the heart of the community. Soccer games on the lawn. Birthday parties in the shade of a gazebo. And there in the parking lot, Scotese in a 10-year-old maroon Honda Accord.