From Cointelegraph

May 14, 2025 10:44:00 PM:

European law enforcement arrested 17 suspects of a “mafia crypto bank” accused of laundering over 21 million euros in crypto for criminal entities in China and the Middle East. The arrests and asset seizures took place in January 2025, with 4.5 million euros worth of items seized. Most of the arrested individuals have already been detained.

The criminal organization ran a secret informal money transfer system called hawala and was compensated in crypto. Luxury items worth 876,000 euros were seized, along with cash, crypto, vehicles, shotguns, and electronic devices. Most of those arrested were of Chinese and Syrian nationality, targeting clients in China and the Arabic-speaking criminal world.

Spanish authorities revealed that the criminal organization tried to cover up its money laundering activities by operating a remittance business and advertising those services on social media. The investigation was led by a court in Almería, Spain, which supported EU efforts to dismantle the criminal organization. Illicit crypto transactions totaled $51.3 billion in 2024, according to Chainalysis.

Read more at Cointelegraph: Europol helps dismantle $23M ‘mafia crypto bank’