Drug networks move money through companies.
Narcotics trafficking organizations rely on legitimate-looking corporate structures to move precursor chemicals, launder proceeds, and obscure beneficial owners. Sayari traces the corporate network behind the financial network.
65%
of major narcotics trafficking organizations identified by DEA in 2024 used three or more layers of corporate ownership to distance principals from financial activity. Standard financial investigation tools don’t expose this structure.
DEA National Drug Threat Assessment 2024 · Sayari Research
THE PROBLEM
Why financial investigation alone misses the structure
The structural gaps that point solutions can’t close.
Corporate layering for proceeds
DTO proceeds move through shell companies, cash-intensive businesses, and nominee-owned entities across multiple jurisdictions. Each layer is designed to appear legitimate when screened independently.
Precursor chemical networks
Chemical precursors for fentanyl and methamphetamine flow through networks of trading companies, many registered in China, Mexico, and third-country transshipment jurisdictions, with deliberate ownership opacity.
Beneficial owner concealment
DTO principals use nominees, attorneys, and corporate service providers to register entities without appearing in any public record. Identifying the real beneficial owner requires cross-jurisdictional data integration.
THE SAYARI APPROACH
Trace the corporate structure behind narco-finance.
Sayari integrates corporate registry filings, trade flow data, beneficial ownership records, and financial intelligence across 250+ jurisdictions – mapping the full network from DTO principal to front company.
Beneficial Owner Identification
Precursor Trade Flow Mapping
Proceeds Network Mapping
Cross-Agency Intelligence Integration
network_trace.log
> Corporate Network Analysis
✓ 47 nodes mapped · 6 jurisdictions
✓ 89 ownership edges resolved
> Cartel Affiliation Scan
⚠ Address overlap: Sinaloa network front cos.
✗ Probable cartel financial infrastructure
On this page
HOW IT WORKS
From data to decision
Start from any known actor or network
Begin with a known DTO entity, a suspicious trade shipment, or a financial alert flagged by FinCEN or a financial institution.
Corporate and trade network traversal
Sayari maps all corporate relationships – ownership, co-directorship, co-registration – and links to trade flow records for precursor chemicals.
Prioritize for action
Identify high-value targets: beneficial owners, financial infrastructure nodes, and precursor suppliers most critical to DTO operations.
6B+
Records integrated in Sayari’s world model
Sayari’s world model integrates corporate registries, trade manifests, beneficial ownership filings, and enforcement databases into a single persistent entity graph – enabling the kind of cross-domain network analysis that narcotics investigators need.
Sayari Research · 2025
WHY SAYARI
Sayari vs Legacy tools
SAYARI
- Corporate + financial + trade in one model – full structural picture of DTO networks
- Cross-jurisdiction beneficial owner resolution – 250+ registries normalized to a single entity layer
- Precursor trade mapping – HS code shipment data linked to corporate ownership networks
- API integration – connects Sayari’s world model to existing agency intelligence platforms
LEGACY TOOLS
- Financial data only – misses the corporate structure used to launder proceeds and obscure principals
- No cross-jurisdiction corporate integration – beneficial owner research is manual and jurisdiction-specific
- No trade flow data – can’t map precursor chemical supply chains to DTOs
- Siloed agency databases – no unified view across FinCEN, DEA, CBP, and OFAC holdings
CLIENT RESULTS
Measured outcomes from production deployments
250+
Jurisdictions with corporate registry data for beneficial owner tracing
10×
Faster network mapping vs manual cross-registry research
10+
Degrees of corporate ownership separation Sayari can traverse in a single query
PRODUCTS FOR THIS USE CASE
Sayari products that power this workflow
Sayari Graph
Entity resolution and ownership graph for 500M+ companies across 250+ jurisdictions.
Sayari Map
Trade-flow intelligence mapping shipment data to corporate ownership networks.
Sayari Signal
Continuous monitoring that alerts on meaningful changes across your counterparty base.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Common questions about this use case
GET STARTED
See a DTO network mapped across jurisdictions.
Request a demo to see Sayari trace beneficial ownership and trade flows for a narcotics enforcement target.
Resources & Insights