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June 10, 2009

Official: Drug lords using ‘gift cards’ to smuggle money

Posted: 09:50 AM ET
Kiran Chetry - Anchor, CNN's American Morning

Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard says Mexican drug cartels use gift card technology to smuggle money across the U.S. border.

The state of Arizona is finding itself on the front line of the war against Mexican drug cartels. Their attorney general will meet this week with leaders of other southwestern states to try to stop the flow of drugs across the border with Mexico. To do that, they say they will have to stop the flow of cash as well, including a new way smugglers are trying to get past the cash-sniffing dogs.

Lawmakers say gift card technology is now making it easier for drug lords to move cash across the border undetected. These ’stored value instruments’ are often issued by offshore banks and allow large sums of money to be moved throughout the world. Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard spoke to Kiran Chetry on CNN’s “American Morningâ€