WASHINGTON — The Treasury Department has pinpointed nearly $5 billion in bank or other transactions linked to suspected human smuggling between 2023 and 2025 — a staggering figure that the Trump administration is vowing to reduce, The Post can reveal.
The Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) found $4.9 billion in suspicious exchanges by combing through Bank Secrecy Act data between Jan. 1, 2023, and Dec. 31, 2025, according to a forthcoming Financial Trend Analysis report.
Much of that amount included “excessive cash activity conducted along the southwest border of the United States,” as well as transfers along other “common migration routes” and that had “unverifiable relationships between originators and beneficiaries.”
“The transactions involved multiple discrepancies, including inconsistent payment amounts, unexplained refunds, and contracts that did not align with actual money movements,” the report noted.
Some of the flagged payments totaled more than $3 million for charter flights believed to be linked to human smuggling between the Middle East and Central America.
“The filer connected one of the involved companies to human smuggling incidents, including a chartered flight carrying Indian nationals from Egypt to Jamaica through the UAE, and finally on to Nicaragua,” where the migrants were able to attempt to enter the US by land.
In total, FinCEN analysts examined 67,540 BSA reports, with a peak of 29,266 suspicious transactions recorded in 2024.
Just 11,018 BSA reports were filed in 2025 — a 62% decline from the previous year amid heightened scrutiny of potential smuggling or trafficking operations, particularly in the lead-up to the US hosting the 2026 World Cup.
The US hosted the greatest number of suspicious transactions — with California and Texas the states from where the most reports originated — followed by Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and Colombia.
At least 97% of the transactions involved Money Services Businesses (MSBs), while around 3% were associated with banks. Around $3 billion — or 61% — of the actual money flagged in BSA data came from traditional depository institutions.
And 59% of the reports showed “no verifiable familial connection” between the two parties involved in the transaction.
“Many human smuggling networks generate profit for larger transnational criminal organizations, including Mexico-based drug cartels,” said FinCEN Director Andrea Gacki in a statement.
“Suspicious activity flagged by financial institutions provides critical information, and we will continue to work closely with both the private sector and law enforcement to dismantle human smuggling networks and protect our borders.”
Legally, people smuggling is considered the unlawful transportation of unauthorized persons inside the US. It is separate from human trafficking, which involves the recruitment, coercion or transportation of a person into forced labor or commercial sex acts.
Under former President Joe Biden, a record-breaking number of migrants entered the US by illegally crossing the Mexico border before they were apprehended.
Many of the more than 8 million encountered at the frontier were later released into American interior.
