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Europol seizes 25 million euros in cryptocurrencies, here is the role of the member of the criminal group based in Albania!

2024-12-18 11:56:49Aktualitet SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX

Europol seizes 25 million euros in cryptocurrencies, here is the role of the

Europol, in cooperation with authorities in several European countries, as well as SPAK and BKH in Albania , has cracked down on a criminal group during an international anti-money laundering operation.

According to Europol, it is learned that operations GORGON and WHITEWALL led to the arrest of nine suspects and the seizure of several documents, mobile phones, valuables, gold, luxury goods, 35,000 euros in cash and 25 million euros in cryptocurrencies.

In the official announcement, Europol emphasizes that investigative actions have also been carried out in Albania with the support of SPAK and BKH, and that this operation is a continuation of Operation "Gorgon".

Europol's coordinated action, supported by authorities in Spain, Belgium, Bulgaria, the Netherlands and the US, uncovered international links and the use of cryptocurrencies for money laundering. The investigation began after the seizure of marked banknotes linked to the money laundering network.

"One of the key findings of the investigation was that a member of an Albania-based criminal network, targeted during Operation GORGON, was facilitating the transfer of large sums of money through cryptocurrencies.  Used not only by the Albanian criminal world, but also by other criminal organizations and high-value targets, this is an innovative approach to money laundering," the release states.

Full announcement:

Europol has supported law enforcement authorities from six countries to bring down shadowy bankers who moved and laundered the proceeds of large-scale drug trafficking and other serious crimes.

Building on the findings from two major investigations, Operation GORGON and Operation WHITEWALL, this follow-up operation involved close cooperation between Europol experts in serious and organised crime and financial investigations.

It led to the arrest of nine suspects and the seizure of evidence (documents, mobile phones), valuables (gold, luxury goods), 35,000 euros in cash and 25 million euros in cryptocurrency.

Paper trail on euro banknotes

In 2021, cash was seized during a house search in connection with a cocaine trafficking investigation. Some of the five-euro notes had handwritten inscriptions that provided information about who was coordinating and facilitating the financial aspect of the drug trafficking.

The Spanish Guardia Civil passed this information on to Europol, which checked it against data collected in the EncroChat and Sky ECC cases. As a result, the suspect was identified as a coordinator providing underground banking services for a criminal network based in southern Spain, which in turn was under the supervision of a network operating from Dubai. The suspect, a British national, was arrested on 12 September 2022.

Building on this success

The next step in the investigation was to analyse the data in more depth to identify individuals in contact with the suspect. This effort aimed to map the criminal network and understand the roles of its members. Close cooperation between Europol, the Spanish Guardia Civil and members of the dedicated Operational Task Force established at Europol facilitated the dissemination of numerous intelligence packages. Based on these findings, a day of action coordinated by Europol took place on 4 November 2024 in Malaga, Spain, with the participation of Belgian, Bulgarian, Dutch and United States law enforcement authorities.

Offline and online cash flows

Operation WHITEWALL was the first criminal investigation of what would become a Europol Operational Task Force focused on underground banking. It aimed to disrupt and dismantle financial networks that offered ‘crime as a service’. Largely controlled by the United Arab Emirates and operating across the EU and beyond, these criminal service providers cater to those who need to hide the origin of large amounts of illicit proceeds.

One of the key findings of the investigation was that a member of an Albanian-based criminal network targeted during Operation GORGON was facilitating the transfer of large sums of money via cryptocurrencies. Used not only by the Albanian criminal underworld, but also by other criminal organizations and high-value targets, this is an innovative approach to money laundering.

Europol as a center of expertise

The dismantling of these sophisticated criminal enterprises relied on Europol’s multifaceted expertise in the different areas of crime under investigation. Operations GORGON and WHITEWALL highlighted many aspects of organised crime, with clandestine banking and money laundering not only operating as financial crimes in their own right, but also as services to those involved in drug trafficking, contract killings and arms trafficking, to name just a few of the crimes in which the networks were involved.

In the wake of these long-term investigations, some of which are still ongoing, Europol has distributed numerous intelligence and analytical reports to cooperating partners, as well as numerous operational meetings held at the Agency’s headquarters in the Netherlands or in Spain and Albania. During the days of the action, Europol sent specialists and analysts to the raids, where they provided expertise in organised crime, financial crime and asset recovery. Cryptocurrency experts and cyber specialists supported the operations on site with mobile offices, as well as from Europol headquarters, offering their digital forensics and remote investigation capabilities.

Operation GORGON and Operation WHITEWALL are textbook examples of structured data-driven case building, trust-based international partnerships and cross-departmental support provided by Europol.

Collaboration with a leading stablecoin issuer and a prominent global cryptocurrency asset provider proved instrumental in achieving the successes of the operations. Their seamless integration into the investigation and commitment to stopping illicit activities enabled the efficient execution of complex operational measures. This success demonstrates the power of public-private partnerships in achieving seizures within the digital asset ecosystem.

Albania: Special Prosecution Office for Corruption and Organized Crime (Special Anti-Corruption Structure – SPAK), National Bureau of Investigation (National Bureau of Investigation)

Bulgaria: General Directorate against Organized Crime (Главна дирекция „Борба с организатаната непределност“)

Belgium: Federal Police (Federale Politie)
Netherlands: FIOD

Spain: Civil Guard

United States: Drug Enforcement Administration


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