23 Suspects Detained in Spain Over Laundering Funds Linked to the ‘Russian Mafia’

Spanish police, together with Europol, detained suspects in laundering funds of the ‘Russian mafia’. During searches, in addition to €300,000 in cash, diamonds and cars, law enforcement found cryptocurrency wallets, reported on the Spanish Police website.  

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The investigation began in 2013. It found that ‘the Russian mafia intensified its activity in Spain, using it as a starting point for laundering money for criminal organizations from the countries of the former Soviet Union’.

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According to the report, members of the group invested proceeds from illicit activity in various sectors, including restaurants, nightclubs and real estate.

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They also bribed officials and ‘built a powerful network in the Spanish administration, achieving perfect penetration into the country’s institutions, to run their business with impunity’.

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As a result, police detained 23 suspects, including residents of Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Algeria and Spain, according to RIA Novosti.

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During the searches, law enforcement found weapons, cash, 16 ‘luxury cars’, safes and wallets with cryptocurrency. Bank accounts with assets worth millions of euros were also blocked.

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Police noted that this is the largest operation against the ‘mafia from Eastern Europe’ in the last ten years.

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Earlier, the Spanish police arrested a Dutch citizen of Colombian origin, suspected in laundering €6 million using cryptocurrency.

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Earlier in October, as part of an international operation by Europol arrested 20 suspects in laundering funds using cryptocurrency.

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