Britain and the United States are cracking down on money laundering rings favored by Russian oligarchs and Western drug gangs.

CNN —

Authorities in Britain and the United States announced Wednesday a major crackdown on a multibillion-dollar money laundering ring that has been cleaning up the money of Russian elites, cybercriminals and drug traffickers around the world.

The U.S. Treasury Department has sanctioned a senior executive of one of the money laundering organizations, and the alleged leader of another money laundering organization is being detained in France, a source familiar with the matter told CNN.

A three-year investigation by the UK's National Crime Agency found that Russian-speaking groups included ransomware criminals extorting millions of dollars from their victims, Russian oligarchs seeking to protect their funds abroad and drug cartels spreading cocaine into Europe. .

After Western governments imposed sanctions on Russia over a full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Russian elites needed a new place to store their money. British investigators alleged that the two money laundering networks provided a financial lifeline to Russian elites.

Will Lyne, head of cyber intelligence at the NCA, told CNN that as the situation becomes more difficult and these elites want to continue enjoying their lifestyles across the West, they are turning heavily (to these laundering networks).

Western law enforcement officials have now arrested 84 people in connection with the activity, according to the NCA, Britain's main agency to combat organized crime. And they're hoping the latest arrests will yield new information for the next law enforcement offensive against the powerful network.

NCA head of operations Rob Jones said in a statement: “For the first time, we have been able to uncover links between Russian elites, cryptocurrency-rich cybercriminals and UK street drug gangs.

The Treasury Department announced sanctions Wednesday against people suspected of being senior leaders of one of the laundering organizations known as TGR. Those subject to sanctions include Ukrainian man George Rossi, Russian woman Elena Chirkinyan, and Latvian man Andrejs Bradens, all of whom are believed to be key figures in the laundering network. CNN is attempting to contact them for comment.

The Treasury Department said Pullman Global Solutions LLC, a Wyoming-based company owned by Bradens, was also sanctioned.

According to the NCA, both money laundering networks provide services to criminal enterprises from Dubai to Dublin.

According to the NCA, a typical money laundering cycle through a network is as follows: Russian cybercriminals need a place to send their cryptocurrency, so they exchange it for cash with drug gangs in the UK. Drug gangs then use the cryptocurrency to buy drugs from South American cartels and sell those drugs on the streets of the UK. Money launderers move cash from drug sales from the UK into the legal global banking system.

NCA officials claim the Kremlin directly benefited from some of the money laundered used to finance Russian espionage operations.

CNN has reached out to the Russian Embassy in London for comment.

According to sources, the suspected money launderer detained in France is a Russian woman named Ekaterina Zhdanova. She has long been a target of American law enforcement. The Treasury Department sanctioned her last year over her alleged sophisticated money laundering scheme. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller accused her of using cryptocurrency to launder hundreds of millions of dollars on behalf of sanctioned Russian elites.

Attempts to contact Zhdanova for comment were unsuccessful. CNN has reached out to French authorities for comment.

The Treasury Department accused Zhdanova of laundering more than $2.3 million on behalf of hackers who used a type of ransomware called Ryuk. Ransomware attacks using Ryuk pose a threat to the U.S. healthcare sector. In 2020, one suspected Ryuk attack forced hospitals in the University of Vermont Health Network to postpone chemotherapy and mammography appointments.

This investigation is just the latest example of how police across several continents have had to use a combination of high-tech tools to track cryptocurrency payments and old-fashioned methods, such as undercover and undercover informants, to track down transnational criminal organizations.

CNN previously reported that several U.S. law enforcement agencies, including the DEA and IRS, have used similar methods to track Mexican drug cartels importing fentanyl into the United States.

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