Five-euro notes help Europol uncover Çopja group’s crypto laundering network

Some five-euro bills with handwritten notes turned out to be the key that unlocked a massive money laundering operation moving tens of millions of euros through cryptocurrency networks between Spain and Albania.

It all kicked off in 2021. Spanish police raided a house connected to cocaine trafficking. They found cash and several 5-euro notes covered in handwriting. Those bills contained information about the people running the money side of the drug operation, Europol records show.

Handwritten notes led to $35 million seizure

The Spanish Guardia Civil realized what they had. The notes mapped out how a global network was moving millions in drug money through a banking system that existed completely outside traditional finance.

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