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Colombia
9 days agoNews Editor

Colombia arrests 8 suspects accused of laundering drug money through crypto

Colombia’s Attorney General’s Office said Wednesday that eight people were arrested in an operation coordinated with U.S. intelligence agencies, according to Bitcoin.com. The suspects are accused of using cryptocurrency to launder money for drug trafficking organizations. Police and military units carried out simultaneous raids in Cachicá, Maicao, Barranquilla, and Bogotá. Authorities said alleged ringleader Guillermo Carpio Cardenas, also known as "Gallo," was among those detained. Prosecutors in the U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico accused the group of concealing the origin of drug proceeds through a deposit network, crypto tokens, and smurfing, a method that breaks transactions into smaller amounts to avoid detection by financial intelligence systems. A separate suspect, Nassim Orfale Vasquez, was arrested in Barranquilla and has been charged in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. The Internal Revenue Service said he has handled more than $42 million in suspicious cryptocurrency transactions since 2018. Authorities are also examining whether a larger money laundering organization is operating along Colombia’s coastal region.

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Colombia arrests 8 suspects accused of laundering drug money through crypto
Empire Market
23 days agoNews Editor

Empire Market Co-Creator Gets 40 Years in Prison Over $430 Million Darknet Marketplace

Raheim Hamilton, a co-creator of the darknet marketplace Empire Market, has been sentenced to 40 years in federal prison and fined $5 million, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois. Hamilton, 30, of Suffolk, Virginia, was sentenced in Chicago by U.S. District Judge Steven C. Seeger after pleading guilty earlier this year to a drug conspiracy charge. Prosecutors said Hamilton and Thomas Pavey co-owned and operated Empire Market from 2018 to 2020, during which the site processed more than 4 million transactions worth over $430 million. Nearly $375 million of that total came from drug sales, including fentanyl, cocaine, and heroin. Authorities said the platform also sold stolen account credentials, personal information, counterfeit currency, and hacking tools, while requiring all payments to be made in cryptocurrency and encouraging the use of tumbling and mixing services. Hamilton also agreed to forfeit about 1,230 BTC, 24.4 ETH, and three Virginia properties. Pavey, who pleaded guilty last year, is scheduled to be sentenced later this month.

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Empire Market Co-Creator Gets 40 Years in Prison Over $430 Million Darknet Marketplace
South Korea
3 months agoNews Editor

South Korean police form 41-member virtual asset task force to target Telegram drug networks

South Korean police have set up a 41-member virtual asset tracking and investigation unit as part of a broader crackdown on drug trafficking tied to crypto. Authorities said the team will step up investigations into drug sales networks operating on platforms including Telegram starting Aug. 3. The move comes after a large-scale enforcement campaign carried out from March to June in the first half of the year. During that period, police arrested 5,203 drug offenders and detained 1,039 people. Compared with the same period last year, arrests rose by 94, or 1.8%, while detentions increased by 75, or 7.8%. The announcement points to a tighter focus on the use of virtual assets in illicit drug transactions and on digital channels used to facilitate distribution.

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South Korean police form 41-member virtual asset task force to target Telegram drug networks
South Korea
3 months agoNews Editor

South Korean police form 41-member crypto tracking unit in anti-drug crackdown

South Korean police have set up a 41-member virtual asset tracking and investigation team as part of a wider push against drug trafficking tied to crypto, according to Yonhap News. The unit will step up investigations from Aug. 3, with a focus on drug sales networks operating on platforms such as Telegram. The move comes after a large-scale enforcement campaign carried out from March to June in the first half of the year. During that period, authorities arrested 5,203 drug offenders and detained 1,039 people. Compared with the same period last year, arrests rose by 94, or 1.8%, while detentions increased by 75, or 7.8%. The figures were cited in the Yonhap report referenced by ChainCatcher.

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South Korean police form 41-member crypto tracking unit in anti-drug crackdown
Brazil
4 months agoNews Editor

Brazil police freeze about $196 million tied to crypto laundering drug ring

Brazilian federal police said they targeted a drug trafficking ring that allegedly used cryptocurrency to launder proceeds, as part of Operation Commodity. Authorities said the group smuggled more than 6.5 tons of cocaine to Europe through the Port of Rio de Janeiro since 2021, hiding the drugs in shipments of coffee, cement and mortar. The operation spanned Sao Paulo, Minas Gerais, Santa Catarina and Espirito Santo, where police carried out 13 preventive arrest warrants and 44 search and seizure warrants. A court also ordered the seizure and freezing of assets worth up to 1 billion Brazilian reais, or about $196 million. Police said the group had links to Primeiro Comando da Capital, or PCC, and Comando Vermelho, or CV. Investigators alleged the suspects moved funds through shell companies and a luxury car dealership in the Greater Sao Paulo area that sold brands including Ferrari, Porsche, Corvette and Land Rover. According to police, the suspects used invoices without supporting documents to channel drug proceeds into Brazil’s financial system and then used cryptocurrency to conceal transactions. The suspects may face charges related to a transnational criminal organization, international drug trafficking and money laundering.

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Brazil police freeze about $196 million tied to crypto laundering drug ring
United States
4 months agoNews Editor

U.S. judge sets June 1, 2027 trial date in Maduro drug trafficking case

A U.S. judge has set June 1, 2027 as the start date for the trial of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, according to a July 23 report cited by BlockBeats from CCTV News. The report said the United States launched a military strike against Venezuela on Jan. 3, took control of Maduro and his wife, and brought them to the U.S. American judicial authorities later accused the couple of drug trafficking offenses. On Jan. 5, Maduro and his wife made their first appearance at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, where they rejected what the report described as the U.S. side’s criminal allegations. Maduro is currently being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York. CCTV News also said the international community has widely condemned the U.S. move as a serious violation of Venezuela’s sovereignty and a threat to peace and stability in Latin America.

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U.S. judge sets June 1, 2027 trial date in Maduro drug trafficking case
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