The National Crime Agency (NCA) of the United Kingdom recently announced the successful dismantling of a transnational cryptocurrency money laundering network involving London, Moscow, and Dubai. This network primarily operated through two companies, Smart and TGR, providing financial transfer services for global criminals.

From the end of 2022 to the summer of 2023, this network facilitated money laundering for multiple criminal organizations, including the Kinahan drug trafficking group. Its operation involved couriers collecting cash, exchanging it for cryptocurrencies such as USDT, and then completing the money laundering through the company network.

Ekaterina Zhdanova, the owner of Smart, has been accused of transferring large sums of money to the UAE and has since been sanctioned and detained. The NCA stated that this is its most significant anti-money laundering operation, resulting in the arrest of 84 individuals and the seizure of £20 million.