The money-laundering network linked to the Kinahan Organised Crime Group has been exposed by an international investigation.

The investigation – Operation Destabilise – is led by the UK's National Crime Agency and includes Gardaí as well as law enforcement agencies in the US, France and the Unite Arab Emirates.

The operation has exposed two Russian crime networks, leading to 84 arrests and the seizure of over £20 million (€24 million) in cash and cryptocurrency.

The NCA says it uncovered a complex scheme in which the networks typically collected cash from drug traffickers in one country and converted it into cryptocurrency extorted by cyber criminals in another, so disguising the source of income.

It reduced the movement of cash across international borders and laundered profits for both groups of criminals.

The NCA claim the Kinahan Organised Crime Group used these networks to disguise profits from drug trafficking and firearms supply.

The Kinahan syndicate was sanctioned by the United States Department of the State in April 2022.

Reporting by IRN.

Feature image: National Crime Agency HQ, Westminster, London