The UK has revealed a massive crypto money laundering scheme involving drug dealers and Russian spies

A UK-led operation has uncovered a multi-billion-dollar money laundering scheme operating in London, Moscow and Dubai that enabled Russian spies and European drug traffickers to use cryptocurrencies to evade sanctions, according to the Financial Times. Britain's National Crime Agency (NCA) said on Wednesday that its "Operation Destabilisation" investigation is focusing on two companies - Smart and TGR - that have acted as financial hubs for cash-rich global criminals and sanctioned individuals who have drifted out of the banking system because of cryptocurrencies. The NCA said that from late 2022 to the summer of 2023, the network was used by clients including the Kennehan drug cartel, Irish cocaine traffickers linked to multiple contract killings, as well as ransomware groups and "Russian espionage". Rob Jones, the NCA's director of operations, said the investigation was the "most significant money laundering operation" the agency had ever undertaken. He said it was "targeting money laundering centres that combine street cash and cryptocurrency on a massive scale."