Operation Destabilise – UK and Irish Police Smash Russian-linked Laundering Ring

British, Irish, as well as international law enforcement agencies, have struck a significant blow against one the most sophisticated criminal networks in the world. money-laundering The criminals who bought a bank abroad to help them. Funding Russia’s War effort.

You can also find out more about the following: National Crime Agency (NCA) You can confirm that Operation Destabilise The CIA has revealed a system of money laundering worth billions of dollars that involved the purchase of a bank in Kyrgyzstan as a way to avoid sanctions and transfer money related to drug trafficking, weapons trafficking, and organised immigration crimes.

According to the NCA the network operated in 28 towns and cities across the UK. It used couriers to collect cash from criminals and convert it to cryptocurrency.

Irish Gardaí seize €1.36 million

The Irish authorities played a key role in the crackdown on cross-border crime. In a press release issued on November 21 it was confirmed that Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau (GNDOCB) carried out several interdictions throughout 2025, seizing over €1.36 million in cash believed to be connected to the laundering network.

Key 2025 seizures in Ireland include:

• April 9 – Dublin Airport: €342,000 seized; one man and one woman in their 60s arrested.
• April 23 – West Dublin: €638,000 seized; one man in his 30s arrested.
• October 14 – North Dublin and Co Leitrim: €383,000 seized; four suspects arrested, all in their 30s.

Assistant Commissioner Angela Willis said Gardaí would continue to “disrupt, degrade and dismantle transnational criminal organisations” whose activities impact communities “across the UK and Europe.”

Russian money hidden by bank

Operation Destabilise has now resulted in 128 arrests and the seizure of over £25 million in cash and cryptocurrency in the UK alone.

The NCA stated that members of the group secretly purchased Keremet Bank, in Kyrgyzstan, through a company connected to Russian-Moldovan businessman Ilan Shor. This enabled sanctions to be evaded and payments to Russia’s military industry base to be made.

The laundering groups – identified as Smart and TGR – serviced serious and organised crime groups, handling proceeds from drug trafficking and cybercrime while helping Russian clients bypass Western financial restrictions.

Sal Melki said that the NCA’s deputy director for economic crime revealed “the sheer size of these networks” and the way they connect local drug trafficking directly to “global organized crime, geopolitics, and state-sponsored activities.”

The NCA launched a campaign to target the cash couriers that fuel the network. Posters were placed in places where the groups have been known to congregate.

“For a few hundred quid, there is a very good chance you could be going to prison for over five years… Easy money leads to hard time.”

Will Lyne, the head of Economic and Cybercrime at Will Lyne:
“Our message is clear – there is no safe haven for those that launder money from serious crime.”

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