UK crime network used crypto to send drug cash to Russia

The laundering network, active in 28 towns and cities, allegedly converted proceeds from drug trafficking, firearms sales and other organized crime into crypto before channeling part of the funds towards Russia-linked entities. The network was identified and dismantled as part of the NCA’s long-running Operation Destabilise, which has led to 128 arrests and the seizure of more than £25 million in cash and digital assets.

Investigators say the organization was so deeply embedded in the UK’s financial underworld that it obtained its own bank to streamline transactions. That bank, according to the NCA’s account, helped process illicit payments tied to Russian interests while couriers collected bags of “dirty” cash on the ground and moved it rapidly into crypto markets.

The NCA described the cash flows uncovered in Operation Destabilise as a link between everyday UK criminal activity and wider geopolitical conflicts. The agency warned that the funds being recycled through the network were not only fuelling local drug and weapons markets but also connecting directly to “geopolitical events causing suffering around the world.”

Despite the perception that digital assets offer anonymity, investigators emphasized that blockchain transparency has been critical in mapping the network’s activity. By tracing transactions on public ledgers and combining them with traditional surveillance and financial-intelligence work, the agency said it was able to reconstruct the flow of money from street-level crime to Russian-linked beneficiaries.

A senior executive from blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis, Madeleine Kennedy, said in a broadcast interview cited by the NCA that public blockchains are “a poor vehicle for money laundering.” From her point of view, the same transparency that allows anyone to view historical transactions is now being used by law enforcement to track funds tied to drug trafficking, sanctions evasion and cybercrime across borders.

One alleged key figure in the laundering network is Russian national Ekatarina Zhdanova. Investigators describe her as an important financial conduit for cybercriminals and Russian elites. She is currently detained in France and is awaiting trial.

UK security minister Dan Jarvis said Russia relies on covert financial pipelines, including crypto-based schemes, to bypass international sanctions. He added that the type of large-scale laundering uncovered in Operation Destabilise “will never be tolerated on our streets,” and would keep targeting cross-border networks that use digital assets to disguise the origin and destination of criminal funds.