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UK crime agency dismantles billion-dollar money laundering network tied to Russian sanctions evasion
The UK National Crime Agency arrested 128 suspects and seized more than £25 million in a coordinated international operation targeting a billion-dollar money laundering network that allegedly helped Russian nationals evade Western sanctions through cryptocurrency, the agency announced this week.
In one of the most aggressive moves yet against digital-asset crime, the NCA confirmed it seized more than £25 million ($33 million) in Britain alone.
The Cash for crypto discovery has sent shockwaves across global financial-crime watchdogs, exposing how illicit cash is rapidly funneled into cryptocurrency to evade sanctions and fuel geopolitical conflict.
Cash for crypto swaps are being used to turn drug-trade street cash into digital assets that move seamlessly across borders — often beyond the reach of traditional financial enforcement.
Under the coordinated global operation known as Operation Destabilise, UK enforcement agencies, working alongside partners in the US, France, Spain and beyond, have arrested 128 suspects linked to the criminal exchange system.
The NCA revealed the networks stretch across at least 28 towns and cities in the UK alone, where criminal collectors pick up bulk cash and push it through sophisticated Cash for crypto conversion channels.
“These networks operate at all levels of international money laundering, from collecting street cash from drug deals to purchasing banks and enabling global sanctions breaches,” said Sal Melki, Deputy Director for Economic Crime at the NCA.
The NCA believes these syndicates helped Russian nationals circumvent sanctions by converting physical cash into cryptocurrency, moving funds into digital wallets controlled by clients seeking to bypass global restrictions.
A core part of the network involved so-called Cash for crypto brokers who offered anonymity, rapid settlements, and offshore routing.
The NCA, together with the US Treasury Department, previously exposed two major laundering operations — TGR and Smart — that heavily relied on these swaps to serve high-value Russian clients.
“This complex operation has exposed the corrupt tactics Russia used to avoid sanctions and fund its illegal war in Ukraine,” said Dan Jarvis, UK Security Minister. “We will detect, disrupt, and prosecute anyone acting on behalf of a hostile foreign state.”
Beyond sanctions evasion, the Cash for crypto ecosystem has become deeply entrenched in global organized-crime structures.
Criminal networks increasingly view cryptocurrency as the fastest method to clean illicit money, move funds offshore, and obscure financial trails.
Just last week, Jeanine Pirro, US Attorney for the District of Columbia, announced renewed efforts to crack down on Chinese organized-crime groups running large-scale crypto-investment scams.
In a separate global sting, investigators uncovered a $19 billion crypto fraud network tied to senior government officials in Cambodia. Analysts warn that these Cash for crypto operations are no longer amateur setups — they are professionally engineered infrastructures.
Research from John Griffin, a finance professor at the University of Texas, revealed more than 4,000 crypto addressesused to steal over $75 billion between January 2020 and February 2024. His findings show the use of Cash for cryptotechniques is expanding far faster than enforcement agencies can keep up with.
The United Nations has also raised alarms. A recent report from the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) outlined how syndicates are no longer merely exploiting crypto platforms — they are building their own, designed specifically to facilitate Cash for crypto laundering.
The report states: “Criminal groups are evolving rapidly, creating bespoke platforms that prioritize anonymity, obfuscation, and unregulated cash-conversion channels.”
