The gold trade has become the money laundering mechanism of choice, according to law enforcement reports, and is being used to handle "staggering amounts" of dirty cash. The way the gold trade works is complex and varied. Basically, drug profits are used to purchase gold, as jewelry, ingots, or even scrap, and gold is then reshipped across borders and resold. Resulting profits are "clean" and drug traffickers who bought the gold in the first place are free to use the money as they please. Nearly every major U.S. money laundering case in recent years has involved gold, and authorities have traced the movement of tons of gold to deals by Latin American drug cartels. Further, U.S. gold imports from Latin American drug havens have skyrocketed. For example, gold imports from Colombia, a minor producer, grew from virtually nothing in 1993 to nearly $200 million in 1996. In the past 10 years, nearly $2.5 billion in foreign gold flowed into Miami, despite Florida's lack of a jewelry-making industry. While many gold companies operate legitimately, interviews with traders, refiners, and law enforcement officials depict an industry riddled with money laundering, tax fraud, smuggling, and dubious bookkeeping. Although selected statistics are available on gold imports from Latin America to the United States, precise figures are not available. Typical methods used by drug traffickers to smuggle gold are described, and challenges posed by the gold trade to law enforcement officials are noted.