Gujarat CID has arrested nine people for allegedly being part of a large international cryptocurrency racket linked to terror funding, drug trafficking, cyber fraud, hawala transactions, and money laundering. The police said this is not a simple racket, as it traced transactions worth over ₹226 crore.
Speaking at a press conference, SP Rajdeepsinh Zala said that the accused were dealing in “dirty crypto,” meaning cryptocurrency connected to illegal activities. According to the police, this money was converted into USDT (a type of digital currency), then turned into cash through hawala networks and allegedly sent to terror groups, drug cartels, and criminal gangs in different countries.
The case investigation began when Gujarat CID’s cyber team noticed suspicious cryptocurrency transactions linked to an Indian IP address. Digging further, the police found that these payments were being received from a dark web website allegedly used for international drug sales.
This blockchain transaction trail led police to a crypto wallet linked to an Ahmedabad resident, Mohsin Molani. Further investigation uncovered several connected wallets that were part of the same network.
Police said a detailed examination of the crypto wallets revealed links with Al-Kahira, a Gaza-based organisation which Israeli authorities have associated with Hamas financing operations.
Investigators said Israel’s National Bureau for Counter Terror Financing (NBCTF) had frozen certain crypto wallets in 2025 through court orders after alleging that they were being used to route funds to Hamas through Turkey.
Police further stated that wallets associated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force (IRGC-QF), Russia-based crypto exchange Garantex, and the Ilan Shor network were also linked to the syndicate’s transaction chain.
As the investigation continued, police found further details about this racket. According to investigators, the accused allegedly used multiple crypto wallets to hide where the money was coming from before converting it into cash. During the investigation, police also recovered Monero, a privacy-focused cryptocurrency that is often difficult to trace.
The police said the group was part of an international drug supply network operating between India, Dubai, and the UK since 2023. Police alleged that drug orders were arranged through Telegram and dark web platforms, with drugs being supplied in the UK. The payments were converted into cryptocurrency and sent back through the network.
The investigators in this case claimed that money earned from these activities was brought back to India through hawala and angadia channels. Some accused even used peer-to-peer crypto trading accounts to convert digital currency into cash.
Surprisingly, this network was also connected to cyber fraud. Police said that the linked bank accounts were connected to hundreds of cyber fraud complaints registered in India.
The nine people arrested are from Ahmedabad, Mumbai, and Haryana. One key accused in this case is currently abroad, while another person involved in the crime is reportedly in a UK prison.
Even after the arrest of these nine accused, the investigation is still ongoing. Police are looking deeper into the matter, including possible links to terror financing, drug trafficking, and cybercrime across multiple countries.
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