Crypto-money laundering, the Russian link... and gangs on the rise

Greetings and salutations…

And Happy New Year!

In truth, 2024 was not exactly a banner year for most, but hey, in terms of crime, intrigue and the pale, seedy underside of just about everywhere… there was quite a lot to report.

But instead of the standard regional crime and intrigue rundown (Ed. Note—I am planning to put one out in the coming days), let’s examine key Russian-linked developments that made themselves apparent in December.

With a bit of background, of course.

Years ago I highlighted (constantly) the Russian thieves-in-law (vory v zakone) groups. Recently some have brought up the fact that the vory have been strangely absent in 2024. Yes… and no, I say, as during the summer Greek police busted members of the vory, as did the Spanish and French earlier during the year. Yet the crux of the matter is that the war in Ukraine displaced crime, moving some of it west, but also changing the nature of retro-ish gangs, such as the vory, who did rely on territory, the seizure of street markets, street taxes, hit jobs and the like.

The key word above is “territory.” Primarily because when the vory were shoved west—which actually began prior to COVID when the US Barack Obama administration AND Russia both passed anti-vory laws (the latter coming in part due to Russian President Vladimir Putin most likely finally realizing that the vory… just were not dependable—having learned hard lessons illustrated by massive graft revealed during and in the years following the 2014 Sochi Olympics).

What the vory soon realized is that… 1) other gangs held control if key city districts; 2) the vast open-air markets seen in Russia (and also CEE) simply did not exist in the West, and 3) (more importantly) narco trafficking routes in the West. Which meant that gangs already operating in the “Old EU” actually had much more money than most vory could ever dream of.

And there were also language issues. And legal complications.

Hey, ever tried to get a work permit in the EU an honest citizen? Think about how tough it was for these guys.

But while the vory faded, the truth is that Russian mobsters in general are an adaptable bunch—and it appears that even during COVID the cream rose to the top/sank to the bottom (yes, metaphors do not always work in crime reporting). And this December the truth of the matter hit home.

On Dec. 4 to be exact, the BBC revealed that UK crime groups turned to Russians to “take dirty money” from the street and convert this into crypto currency—with Russian networks (these being the Smart network and the TGR group) also doing the same allegedly… for the Russian government. At that time the UK National Crime Agency revealed it had worked with other European authorities to help bring down a Russian crime group that saw the arrest of 84, including 71 persons in the UK. It’s in fact difficult to overestimate the impact of both networks or the bust, as billions (yes, billions) of euros of narco cash.

Which begged the question: just where did said Russian crypto networks get so much crypto?

From ransomware attacks.

And who helped get the ransomware groups moving in the old days?

Need you ask? Russian mafia groups and the vory both.

But check out the original article here (https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c70ezyrep1go) as it also exposes links to (yes, you may have guessed it), the fabled Kinahan gang, Dubai--and by extrapolation Yours Truly guesses the  once identified and now crippled if not replaced “super cartel” identified through surveillance on the Kinahans, which linked them to the Mocro mob, to Tito and Dino and to Italian organized crime. (And longtime readers will note the old Kinahan link to old-school Russian mobsters in the form of Estonian Imre Arakas, who was arrested in Ireland before he could take part in the equally fabled Kinahan-Hutchwar, which decimated the ranks of both gangs.)

But (again) I digress.

Meanwhile, the US did not hesitate and sanctioned (again) Ekaterina Zhdanova, the CEO of the smart group. It also sanctioned the top execs at TGR, Ukrainian (but actually Russian) George Rossi and Elena Chirkinyan.

And now a final note. There may be some (there always are) who note big busts and then assume the past is past. No so, says I (and not only), as Europol did note this year that organized crime is actually on the rise in Europe.

And yes, this may come as a surprise to those who follow organized crime in the US—where drug cartels and organized crime groups sometimes tend to be separated artificially in the collective mind of the public (with cartels being designated primarily as something on the other side of the border. This myth may also have been hyped by the demise of the Italian mafia and the five families has been covered to the point of parody.

But yet (again) I digress. The truth of the matter both in the Old EU and in CEE is that the narcotics still flow, hard-core crime gangs are becoming more vicious and somehow they are still thriving despite massive busts brought on by near constant breakthroughs of encryption methods.

According to a Europol press release at that time a Hague-based study revealed  “821 serious criminal networks are active in the European Union” which include more than 25,000 member.”

Likewise, Europol noted that “following a severe conflict between German and Dutch drug gangs in the Cologne area, the union of German criminal investigators (BDK) has warned of crimes such as explosive attacks and kidnappings.”

Sounded ominous back then…

And it sounds ominous now.

And if you need a sense of foreboding, stay tuned for a taste of Balkan coverage when I put out the round-up (hopefully) later this week.

Preston Smith is a licensed investigator based in Gdansk, Poland. He can be reached at query@cddi.pl.

Photo credit: US Italian mafia "commission" map by the Federal Bureau of Investigations, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.