UK police are particularly concerned that notorious Albanian gangsinvolved in cocaine trafficking are now using cryptocurrencies to launder money obtained from illegal activities.
The gangs' involvement in cocaine brings them profits worth $6.23 billion annually. Albanian gangs are one of the most sophisticated in Europe and have close ties to Colombian drug cartels.
Albanian drug dealers, known as Hellbanianz, are using social media to recruit new members. They have managed to gain hundreds of thousands of followers on Instagram. Even some dealers, who are in prison, are sending and sharing photos and videos from inside their cells.
Now, criminals, in order to escape police surveillance, have turned to technology related to cryptocurrencies. The head of the police, Peter Goodman, said that recently Albanian gangs have been using cryptocurrencies and bitcoin cashpoints to launder money.
criminals He have begun to make extensive use of modern technologies to commit their crimes, meaning that authorities will need to adopt a new approach to tackling organized crime. also said that
Cryptocurrency and organized crime
An expert said that cryptocurrencies offer many advantages, but can be used by malicious hackers for illegal activities.
The worrying thing is that this particular case is not like malware ,which is designed for malicious purposes. Cryptocurrencies are designed to protect privacy and enhance security and anonymity. Hackers have started to use them to serve their own interests.
Albanian gangs have decided to use cryptocurrencies for money laundering because they are not easy to detect. However, it is not impossible. Authorities have begun to familiarize themselves with new technologies and have faced several similar threats.
“As technology evolves, so do ways in which cryptocurrency transactions can be tracked. For example, all transactions are recorded on the widely accessible blockchain” explains a police officer.
He also said: “By combining transaction details with other information and analytical techniques, law enforcement agencies and cybersecurity experts are finding ways to detect criminals using cryptocurrencies. However, it is still a slow process.”
