Open Borders, Sealed Accounts

By DAVID ELLIS

Western businessmen aren't the only people who view Eastern Europe as a growth area. Drug traffickers have already chosen the region as a prime spot to launder money, according to U.S. drug enforcement officials. The local banks lack modern record-keeping systems; to make matters worse, some government officials want to establish confidential numbered accounts to attract hard currency. Justice Department operatives are quietly contacting their East European counterparts to warn them that secrecy laws will almost certainly bring in the kind of tainted cash that regularly flows to Panama and the Caribbean.

With reporting by Sidney Urquart