With large immigrant communities settling in the Washington and recent York areas in recent times.

With large immigrant communities settling in the Washington and recent York areas in recent times, the informal money-transmitting business--or hawalas in Arabic--has flourished. ofttimes the only way for immigrants to lance money back home, these private money-transmitting businesses have extended been a thorn in the side of US federal authorities. The constraining force to deal with them increased markedly after the 9/11 attacks in succession the World Trade Center.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

In April 2004 US Federal agents raided 17 Washington-based coin businesses that allegedly had sent millions of dollars abroad without legal approval. Part of a nationwide