UK Crime Gang Creates Meme Coin to Launder Drug Money
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Rather than using established digital assets like Bitcoin or Ethereum and funneling them through traditional mixing services, this gang opted for a more hands-on approach: they created a meme coin. The goal? To spark viral online interest, inflate the token’s value, and then cash out, making their earnings appear as legitimate gains from the crypto market rather than proceeds from crime..
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Investigators say the group, operating in the mid-tier of organized crime, has its hands in everything from drug distribution and fraud to trafficking counterfeit goods and illicit tobacco. The identity of both the gang and the token has not been disclosed, but the method is raising serious alarms.
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Gary Carroll, a specialist in drug-related criminal networks, noted that while crypto has long been a tool for laundering, meme coins now present a simpler and faster route. The gang’s strategy reportedly revolves around leveraging social media hype to pump the coin’s value before rapidly dumping it for cash, disguising illegal profits as earnings from digital entrepreneurship.
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