💸 Crypto as evidence

A Swedish gang spent ten months moving 70 million krona ($7.1M) through crypto. Their alleged leader fled Sweden, landed on an Interpol Red Notice, and resurfaced in the UAE — where he was arrested simultaneously as six associates were picked up back home.

The bigger surprise came from the transaction trail itself: following it led investigators beyond the laundering and into organised crime and contract killings.

In Sweden, that's not an abstraction — police reported 23 bystanders killed in gangland shootings over three years, with gangs recruiting teenage hitmen through social media.

Blockchain's anonymity has its fans. Two countries' worth of investigators, per Emirates News Agency, are not among them.

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