he lack of a well-developed financial
system limits the country's utility as a money-laundering center

Cayman Islands
offshore financial center; vulnerable to drug
transshipment to the US and Europe

Chile
transshipment country for cocaine destined for Europe and the
region; economic prosperity and increasing trade have made Chile
more attractive to traffickers seeking to launder drug profits,
especially through the Iquique Free Trade Zone, but a recent
anti-money-laundering law improves controls; imported precursors
passed on to Bolivia; domestic cocaine consumption is rising, making
Chile a significant consumer of cocaine

China
major transshipment point for heroin produced in the Golden
Triangle region of Southeast Asia; growing domestic drug abuse
problem; source country for chemical precursors, despite new
regulations on its large chemical industry

Colombia
illicit producer of coca, opium poppy, and cannabis;
world's leading coca cultivator with 167,000 hectares in coca
cultivation in 2007, a 6% increase over 2006, producing a potential
of 535 metric tons of pure cocaine; the world's largest producer of
coca derivatives; supplies cocaine to most of the US market and the
great majority of other international drug markets; in 2007, aerial
eradication dispensed herbicide to treat over 153,000 hectares with
another 67,000 hectares manually eradicated, but aggressive
replanting on the part of coca growers means Colombia remains a key
producer; a significant portion of non-US narcotics proceeds are
either laundered or invested in Colombia through the black market
peso exchange; important supplier of heroin to the US market; opium
poppy cultivation is estimated to have fallen 25% between 2006 and
2007 with a corresponding estimated 27% decline in the yield of pure
heroin to 1.9 metric tons; (2007)

Congo, Democratic Republic of the
one of Africa's biggest producers
of cannabis, but mostly for domestic consumption; while rampant
corruption and inadequate supervision leaves the banking system
vulnerable to money laundering, the lack of a well-developed
financial system limits the country's utility as a money-laundering
center

Costa Rica
transshipment country for cocaine and heroin from South
America; illicit production of cannabis in remote areas; domestic
cocaine consumption, particularly crack cocaine, is rising;
significant con