Sure, AML might be beneficial if it had no cost. It does make crime slightly more inefficient. However, AML has a massive cost. It makes legal transactions inefficient as well. Billions of people are unbanked and underbanked, in large part thanks to AML. It forces money transmitters to carry out what amounts to extrajudicial punishment on people and industries deemed "at risk". The estimated global cost of compliance amounts to hundreds of billions of dollars annually. Imagine if all those wasted resources instead went to chasing terrorists & human traffickers for those actual crimes.
People are not dumb, at least when it costs this much. AML exists for a reason, which I believe is collecting intel for three letter agencies to ensure USA’s continued dominance over the rest of the world.
