The UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) has blown the lid off a multibillion-dollar laundering scheme that reads like something out of a spy thriller.
A tangled web of Russian intelligence operatives, cocaine traffickers, and cybercriminals funneled dirty money through London, Moscow, and Dubai, using crypto to dodge sanctions and mask their operations.
The network was fueled by Tether’s USDT stablecoin, which basically served as the secret handshake between organized crime and geopolitical espionage.
“Operation Destabilise” uncovered this sprawling underworld spanning over 30 countries, exposing the murky marriage between gangsters and governments. For Russian spies and sanctioned elites, crypto became a lifeline. For drug cartels and ransomware gangs, it was the perfect tool to clean up piles of illicit cash.
From cocaine cartels to Kremlin agents
At the heart of the scheme were two companies—Smart and TGR. These guys reportedly acted as financial hubs for criminals who couldn’t rely on traditional banks. Cocaine traffickers like the Kinahan cartel, infamous for contract killings, moved their cash into this pipeline.
Meanwhile, Russian intelligence agencies leaned on the same network to sidestep sanctions and fund espionage. It was a dirty money laundering machine that worked with ruthless efficiency, leaving no trail for investigators to follow—at least until now.
Here’s how it worked. Criminals in countries like the UK handed over physical cash to couriers. That cash was then processed through businesses linked to the network. The equivalent value was provided in crypto, often in different countries, making the money virtually untraceable.
USDT became the favored currency, replacing Bitcoin. Unlike Bitcoin, USDT is stable, pegged to the US dollar, which means criminals didn’t have to worry about value fluctuations while their shady deals played out.
Rob Jones, the NCA’s director-general, described the operation as the most significant money laundering case they’ve ever handled. “It’s McMafia meets Narcos,” he said.
A global web of illicit deals
The NCA’s investigation revealed just how deeply entrenched this network was. Over a four-month period, the operation collected cash from 55 locations across the UK, including England, Scotland, Wales, and the Channel Islands.
TGR and Smart facilitated these collections, allowing 22 criminal groups to clean their money. The Russian state-run media group RT, already sanctioned, used the same network to secretly fund a UK-based Russian-language media organization.
If that wasn’t enough, the crypto pipeline also allegedly helped Russia acquire Western technology for its invasion of Ukraine. Garantex, a crypto exchange sanctioned by both the UK and US, featured prominently in this sordid tale. Transactions linked to Garantex were tied to weapons components for Russia’s military.
The scale of money laundering in the UK alone is staggering. NCA officials estimate that over £100 billion is laundered through or within the UK every year, with £5 billion of that involving crypto. The COVID-19 pandemic only exacerbated the problem.
The NCA seized £20 million in cash and crypto and arrested 84 individuals. Among them was Ekaterina Zhdanova, a Moscow-based businesswoman who ran TGR. Known for gracing the covers of Russian business magazines, Zhdanova allegedly funneled over $100 million to the UAE for a sanctioned Russian oligarch.
She also bypassed “know your customer” checks to purchase British properties. Currently in custody in France, Zhdanova has become the face of this scandal.
But she wasn’t alone. TGR’s leadership included George Rossi, Elena Chirkinyan, and Andrejs Bradens, all sanctioned by the US Treasury.
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