The NCA has uncovered that an extensive money laundering network operating in the UK has purchased a bank in Kyrgyzstan to fund the Russian war effort.
As part of Operation Destabilise, the NCA and its partners are focusing on money launderers who work for this network and are known to operate in at least 28 UK cities and towns.
Exposing the money laundering network
Through Operation Destabilise, the agency has found that, for a fee, the money launderers collect illegal cash from different crimes and then convert it to clean cryptocurrency. This cash-to-crypto approach represents a fundamental part of a global criminal ecosystem that covers offending in UK communities, sanctions evasions, and high levels of organised crime, including money laundering services to the Russian state, according to the NCA.
By working with its partners, the NCA is actively mitigating this threat and substantially restricting this network’s operations. As part of the second phase of the operation, an additional 45 suspected money launderers have been arrested and over GBP 5.1 million in cash seized in less than a year.
Furthermore, by utilising the intelligence received from Operation Destabilise, the NCA has assisted its international law enforcement partners in seizing approximately GBP 18 million and GBP 2.27 million from the network. Since the start of its operations, there have been 128 arrests, with over GBP 25 million seized in cash and cryptocurrency just in the UK.
The NCA has also rolled out a campaign to directly communicate with the money launderers who move criminal cash, reaching them in the locations where they are known to conduct operations. The posters and messages, which are provided both in English and Russian, underline the risks they are taking by couriering money connected to the harmful crimes.
Who’s involved in the network?
As detailed by the NCA, in December 2024, the agency uncovered two networks, TGR and Smart, as part of Operation Destabilise. These networks worked together to launder money for transnational crime groups involved in cybercrime and other unlawful activities. Additionally, they supported their Russian clients in illegally bypassing financial restrictions to invest money in the UK.
Talking about the operation, Sal Melki, Deputy Director for Economic Crime at the National Crime Agency, said that, with the threat being this significant, the NCA and its partners plan to continue their crackdown on these networks and other involved parties. By now, regulators have substantially restricted these networks’ ability to operate in the UK and intend to continue to arrest, prosecute, seize and sanction, and deny these criminals access to the financial services they exploit.
