South Korea arrests 4 Uzbeks for transferring USDT to a Syrian terrorist organization

According to Decrypt, the Gwangju Police Agency in South Korea arrested four Uzbek suspects in April under the Anti-Terrorism Financing Act and disclosed the case on Tuesday. One of them is listed on Interpol's Red Notice. The police stated that this is the first case involving cryptocurrency flowing out from a recognized terrorist organization and then being funneled back to fund physical goods.

According to police investigations, from August 2024 to April 2025, the alleged mastermind transferred 4,267 USDT to the Syrian terrorist organization "Katibat Tawhid wal Jihad" (KTJ) in seven transactions. KTJ was established in 2014 and is mainly composed of Central Asian militants, recognized as a terrorist organization by the United Nations and the United States.

Additionally, the mastermind is accused of receiving cryptocurrency from KTJ to purchase 11 used cars and 2 excavators, with a total value of approximately 170 million Korean won (about 121,000 USD), which were then shipped to Syria. The other three suspects are alleged to have assisted in the purchase and export of these vehicles.

The police stated that previous terrorism-related cases mostly involved remittances to terrorist organizations, while this case is the first instance of receiving funds from a terrorist organization and reverse procuring and supplying vehicles.

Investigations revealed that the mastermind rotated operations among three personal wallets, with the vehicle purchase funds deposited into an account under his spouse's name, and he presented someone else's driver's license when arrested. He entered South Korea in 2017 on a student visa, graduated from a university in Daejeon, and has been illegally residing since 2023. He denied the main charges during his first court hearing in June, claiming that the remittances were for family living expenses and that he did not know the identity of the vehicle purchasers. The police stated that the investigation also led to the capture of a second suspect listed on the Red Notice, and the case is still ongoing.