Pirate Banking?

Where do pirates store their booty?

This was my first thought when I read this article  about a record payout to Somali pirates who captured two boats.  

It’s hard to believe that it’s already been 200 years since the US went to war  with a collective of North African nations to stamp out piracy in the Mediterranean.  Can you imagine if we were to do that today?  It was effective, though.  I can only imagine the horrors we’d be accused of if we resorted to similar actions now.  And there would certainly be a contingent of our people who would refuse to allow us to sing  about it.  

I’m assuming that today’s pirates aren’t burying their money in a treasure chest in the ground someplace.  I’m assuming that it takes a little time to blow through $12 million in cash, so my assumption is that some sort of bank is involved in this process, somewhere.  I should think that a deposit of that magnitude, in that area of the world, would be noticeable and trackable.  Yet no mention is ever made of this.  I should think that if suddenly pirates couldn’t find a safe place for their ransom money, the incentives to piracy would decrease somewhat as well.  

At least, that’s my theory.  Piracy seems like something far removed from our ordinary lives here in the US.  However the costs of piracy are passed along in increased costs and fees for the products we buy.  You’d think there would be a way for us to make it less of a lucrative business for the pirates and their bankers.