Reported by Eurojust

(Excerpt shared below. To read full report, go to: https://www.eurojust.europa.eu/news/criminal-networks-dismantled-drug-trafficking-and-money-laundering-trade-gold-bars)

A joint French–Italian investigation team has dismantled two linked organised crime groups (OCGs) involved in trafficking illicit drugs and large-scale money laundering. One of the networks laundered money for the other OCG and other criminals through an elaborate gold trading system. 

In a series of coordinated actions, 12 suspects were arrested and close to 100 kilos of pure gold bars were seized. Eurojust supported a joint investigation team (JIT) into the related criminal networks. 

One network, composed mainly of perpetrators of Syrian and Egyptian origin, operated from the north of Italy. It offered ‘crime as a service’, organising money laundering for other OCGs through the so-called ‘hawala’ system. 

This system involves hiding illegal gains through a series of promises or guarantees to transfer large sums of money for laundering.