A closer look
When legitimate capitalism implodes, organized crime steps up as the lender of last resort. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the 2008 financial crisis locked up the interbank lending market so severely that banks were desperate for liquid cash. Enter the global drug trade. An estimated $352 billion in illicit drug profits was laundered through the financial system during this period, practically saving several major global banks from total collapse. Crime literally pays the bankers.
