Europol raids $24 million ‘mafia crypto bank’

By: bitcoin ethereum news|2025/05/15 02:45:04
0
Share
copy
European authorities dismantled a so-called “mafia crypto bank” earlier this year in a series of raids that seized weapons and over €2.5 million ($2.7 million) in real estate. As disclosed by Europol and Spain’s national police today, the raids took place in January and resulted in the arrests of 17 individuals. The criminal network, which allegedly handled more than €21 million ($23.5 million) , offered crypto services to human traffickers and the drug trade. The operation, which was made up of Chinese and Syrian individuals, was split into two branches that catered to either criminal networks in China or Arabic-speaking criminals. Read more: China busts $2 billion USDT money laundering operation It facilitated money laundering, hawala banking, and often moved cash for traffickers in exchange for cryptocurrency. Spanish media described it as a “mafia crypto bank,” while Spain’s national police said the group is considered to be “the most powerful organization internationally in this field.” During the raid, authorities seized €183,000 ($205,000) in crypto, €627,000 ($700,000) in bank accounts and cash, four shotguns, various luxury goods, and 18 vehicles worth over €207,000 ($232,000). Earlier this week, crypto security firm Elliptic uncovered an $8.4 billion Chinese telegram marketplace facilitating financial services for crypto scammers. The operation was incorporated in Colorado and reportedly helped launder crypto stolen from the Indian exchange WazirX as part of a $235 million hack. Got a tip? Send us an email securely via Protos Leaks . For more informed news, follow us on X , Bluesky , and Google News , or subscribe to our YouTube channel. Source: https://protos.com/europol-raids-24-million-mafia-crypto-bank/

You may also like

Electric Capital: Tracking 501 types of yield-generating RWA assets, we discovered these patterns

From private credit to GPU leasing, from catastrophe bonds to music royalties, the range of tokenizable assets is much richer than the market perceives. However, the biggest challenge is not technology, but distribution—existing RWAs heavily rely on a few large deployers, and the concentration of ri...

Those who are cut off by AI will not disappear; they will become the creators of the next round of the economy

AI is not eliminating people, but rather the superstition of "stable careers": those who break the shackles of organizations and understand how to rewrite themselves are ushering in the ultimate revenge.

Stablecoins reshaping cross-border payments in Asia? Strategic panorama and investment opportunity analysis

With the popularity of local payment channels, the costs of traditional transfers have been significantly reduced, and the fees are now mainly concentrated in the domestic settlement phase, which is precisely what stablecoins cannot bypass.

Zuckerberg is building an AI agent to help him as CEO

Zuckerberg is reported to be personally developing a "CEO proxy" to accelerate information acquisition and reduce management layers.

Bloomberg: Swiss Private Bank Old Guard Rifts, Is Bitcoin the Spark?

For Marc Syz, this is both a bet on the digital asset track and a complete break from Switzerland's long-established private banking dynasty.

Zuckerberg is building an AI assistant to help him be CEO

Mark Zuckerberg has been reportedly personally developing a "CEO Proxy" to speed up information flow and reduce management layers.

Popular coins

Latest Crypto News

Read more