INTERPOL operation blocks $293M in illicit assets, 5,811 arrests

Among the cases highlighted, Thai police arrested two suspects after uncovering a cryptocurrency laundering operation that allegedly moved proceeds from romance scams through multiple digital assets using cross-chain token swaps. Authorities said one 20-year-old suspect’s crypto wallet processed more than $122.5 million over a 10-month period.

In Singapore and Oman, law enforcement blocked a $6.6 million transfer linked to a business email compromise scheme. Macao police stopped a victim from sending nearly $372,000 to scammers posing as public officials. In Eswatini, police arrested 82 people after dismantling an online gambling, money laundering, and impersonation network that operated from a fake Brazilian police station. Palau authorities deported 22 people accused of running hotel-based scam centres that used cryptocurrency and illegal gambling websites to target overseas victims.

The latest operation adds to a series of international actions targeting cryptocurrency laundering networks. In June, U.S. prosecutors charged two alleged operators of the AudiA6 crypto laundering service, accusing them of processing more than $389 million in transactions and receiving over 10,000 Bitcoin since 2021. Investigators from multiple countries seized servers, froze crypto assets, and replaced the group’s online infrastructure with seizure notices.

Earlier this year, the U.S. Treasury sanctioned a network accused of helping North Korea move proceeds from overseas IT worker schemes through cryptocurrency. The Treasury said facilitators converted digital assets into cash or used crypto transactions to disguise the source of funds before sending them to accounts linked to the North Korean regime.