As part of fighting international money laundering crimes, U.S. and Indian authorities coordinated in real time to seize cryptocurrency assets worth USD 150 million linked to drug trafficking, according to just released details. The details emerged from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), Egmont Group-an international organization of Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs), INTERPOL and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) handbook that was released in Paris earlier today. The handbook calls for stronger global collaboration among analysts, investigators, and prosecutors to deal with the issue.
The handbook pointed out that in 2022, the US Department of Justice sought assistance from the Indian govt under treaty of mutual legal assistance in criminal matters to investigate a major drug trafficking organization led by 2 people. The organisation was involved in the illicit distribution of drugs including Fentanyl, heroin, and others and operated through encrypted communications and cryptocurrency wallets. The investigation revealed that the brothers controlled over 8500 bitcoins, valued at $150 million and were used for money laundering and to finance drug trafficking activities.
In response to the US request, India’s ED launched an investigation and obtained key records uncovering transfers through a digital payment services provider exceeding Rs 5.54 crore. The handbook, as seen by WION said, “the case is a strong example of real time, cross border coordination between India, US” and pointed out that US officials travelled to India “to assist directly in the investigation, including during interviews of the accused”. Due to the cooperation the people involved were arrested in April 2024 and a prosecution complaint was filed which marked “a major step in dismantling the transnational drug trafficking” network.
The handbook also listed Indian examples on how to deal with international cooperation when it comes to dealing with money laundering. It said India’s home ministry has established a set of standardised guidelines for international cooperation issued under criminal procedure code and prevention of money laundering act or PMLA. These guidelines provide a clear and structured framework for managing incoming and outgoing MLA -Mutual Legal Assistance requests, “marking a significant step towards standardising India’s international cooperation efforts”.
An online portal has been launched as well by India, that provides a template for making requests to various countries. Examples from the UK, with the UK Central Authority and Argentina, via its electronic form have also been listed.