police

According to Bitcoin.com, the Colombian Attorney General's Office announced on Wednesday that, in coordination with U.S. intelligence agencies, it has arrested 8 individuals suspected of using cryptocurrency to launder money for drug trafficking organizations. Police and military conducted simultaneous operations in four locations: Cúcuta, Maicao, Barranquilla, and Bogotá.Among those arrested were 7 individuals, including the gang leader Guillermo Carpio Cárdenas (nicknamed "Gallo"). The U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico has charged that the gang used deposit networks, cryptocurrency tokens, and small transaction splitting (smurfing) to conceal the source of drug money and evade monitoring by financial intelligence agencies.Another suspect, Nassim Orfale Vasquez, was arrested in Barranquilla and has been indicted by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. According to the IRS, he has handled over $42 million in suspicious cryptocurrency transactions since 2018, and authorities are investigating whether there are larger money laundering organizations in Colombia's coastal regions.

Recently, the Qingshanqiao Police Station of the Xiangtan County Public Security Bureau in Xiangtan City, Hunan Province, with the support of the county bureau, went to Loudi and successfully dismantled a fraud den that used malicious links to steal virtual currency, arresting 3 criminal suspects.Upon investigation, on September 4, a local resident reported that after clicking on a strange link in a virtual currency QQ group, 6814 yuan worth of USDT was stolen from their account. Since August, three individuals, Zhou, Chen, and Liang, have been seeking illegal profits by obtaining malicious virus links through the Telegram app, specifically searching for virtual currency exchange groups in QQ and WeChat, sending malicious links in the groups, and waiting to steal the virtual currency from the accounts of those who clicked. Currently, all three suspects have been criminally detained in accordance with the law on suspicion of theft, and the case is under further investigation.

According to Thai media Khaosod English, Thai immigration police recently arrested a 37-year-old Chinese man in Bangkok. He is wanted by Chinese police for allegedly participating in a transnational criminal network and money laundering activities. The police stated that the related criminal network involves transactions exceeding 500 million yuan (approximately 2.485 billion Thai baht).The suspect is accused of processing cryptocurrency and foreign exchange transactions for the criminal gang through more than 133 accounts and assisting members of the transnational criminal network in obtaining visas. The police indicated that the suspect had evaded capture by falsifying residence registration documents, changing license plates, and altering the appearance of vehicles, ultimately being apprehended in a luxury mansion in Bangkok. Thai authorities will handle his overstayed residence issue according to the law and coordinate his repatriation to China for investigation.

According to Hong Kong media HK01, Hong Kong BBB Group (Chinese name: Hao Hao Hao Group) claims to invest in the agarwood industry in Malaysia and sell over-the-counter stocks and digital assets, suspected to be a scam. The company states that it will convert OTC stocks into "digital asset" cryptocurrency by February 2027 or earlier.It is reported that the Hong Kong police have received reports from 21 individuals, involving an investment project amounting to 14 million Hong Kong dollars. The Commercial Crime Bureau is investigating for "conspiracy to defraud," and so far, four people have been arrested. Additionally, according to the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission's official website, "Malaysia Agarwood Plantation Investment, Agarwood Tree Program, Agarwood Potted Trees, APT4" have been listed as suspicious investment products.

The Hong Kong police announced that over the past two weeks, they have received more than 150 cases of WhatsApp account hijacking scams, with total losses exceeding 15 million Hong Kong dollars. Recently, an employee of a local company engaged in virtual currency exchange encountered account hijacking. The scammers blocked the original work group and blacklisted members, copied the group image, name, members, and profile pictures to create a fake group, impersonating a customer representative to request exchanges.The victim, as per usual practice, first transferred cryptocurrency to the designated wallet of the other party. It was only after discovering that the customer account balance was insufficient and calling to verify that they realized they had been scammed, resulting in a loss of over 4 million Hong Kong dollars for the company. The police remind that WhatsApp groups can be forged, but the member phone numbers cannot be exactly the same as those in the real group, and the timestamps of conversations cannot be replicated. They also suggest enabling two-factor authentication and verifying the other party by phone before making remittances, avoiding logging into accounts on public WiFi or public computers.

The Sharjah Police in the United Arab Emirates, in conjunction with the Ministry of Interior, launched an operation codenamed "End of Battle," successfully dismantling four interconnected transnational crime networks and arresting 33 suspects from 12 nationalities, including key leaders.Investigations revealed that the crime networks were involved in illegal activities such as cyber infiltration, money laundering, digital wallet theft, fraud, extortion, and illegal data trading. During the operation, the police protected over 30 businesses and institutions worldwide, ensuring the safety of assets exceeding $17.7 billion (approximately 65 billion UAE Dirhams), confiscated assets worth over $54.4 million (approximately 200 million UAE Dirhams), and conducted in-depth examinations and evidence collection on more than 3,000 digital wallets.

According to a report by BBC, multiple X platform accounts under the Irish police (An Garda Síochána) were hacked, including @GardaTraffic with 600,000 followers and @GardaInfo with nearly 300,000 followers. The hackers removed the original brand information from the accounts and posted cryptocurrency promotional content, while also altering the account's geographical location to Amsterdam.Some posts have been flagged by the platform as being associated with banned accounts. The Irish police have been contacted for comments, and the investigation into the incident is still ongoing.

According to the Gulf Times, Sharjah police have dismantled four interconnected cross-border crime gangs, involving 33 individuals and enterprises.The four gangs are suspected of network attacks and data theft, money laundering using virtual assets, stealing digital wallets through social engineering attacks, and violently coercing victims to hand over wallet passwords. After reviewing hundreds of pieces of digital evidence, the police identified the suspects and launched raids.

According to CTV News, the Toronto police announced the arrest of 7 people in a violent kidnapping case targeting cryptocurrency holders and the subsequent investigation, including 3 members of the Canadian Armed Forces, with a total of 82 criminal charges filed.The police stated that the victim was kidnapped on July 25, handcuffed, and beaten, as the suspects attempted to obtain access to their cryptocurrency assets and corporate security systems, after which they were released. The investigation also seized firearms, drugs, and approximately 2,500 stolen military ammunition, and the case is still under investigation.

According to reports from Strait News, in March 2025, Zheng Mouyi, Zou Moumou, and others exploited the weak regulation and difficulty of evidence collection in offline USDT over-the-counter trading to plan a "black eat black" robbery crime under the guise of virtual currency offline trading.The gang raised over 340,000 yuan and invited virtual currency merchants for offline transactions. During the transaction, after the merchant transferred over 40,000 USDT into the virtual wallet controlled by the gang, Zheng Mouyi sprayed the victim's eyes with chili water on the spot and, along with others, violently seized all the transaction funds. After the incident, six involved individuals divided the stolen money. The day after the incident, the public security authorities quickly arrested all involved individuals, recovering most of the stolen funds and returning them to the victim.The Jin'an District Prosecutor's Office legally prosecuted Zheng Mouyi, Zou Moumou, and four others for robbery. In 2026, the court heard the case and sentenced the five defendants to fixed-term imprisonment ranging from five years and seven months to ten years and four months for the crime of robbery.

Recently, the police in Binhai City, Shandong, China received a report from a citizen named Xie, stating that 1,300 USDC stablecoins and NFTs worth tens of thousands of yuan had mysteriously disappeared from his digital wallet. There were no obvious transfer alerts or signs of phishing links in the wallet. The police began an on-chain investigation into the virtual currency transfer records and actively sought cooperation with enterprises to analyze the suspect's account.After extensive work, a major suspect named Chen (30 years old, from Fengyang County, Chuzhou, Anhui) was identified. On October 9, technical police officers went to Fengyang County to arrest him. Upon arrival, Chen initially denied the allegations. However, the police utilized the immutable and traceable characteristics of blockchain evidence to gradually break down his psychological defenses. Chen ultimately confessed to the theft. Chen has now been criminally detained in accordance with the law, and his family has actively compensated the victim for the losses. This case marks the first instance of virtual currency theft in Binhai City.

According to SolanaFloor, a TOKEN2049 attendee has filed a report with the Singapore police regarding a crypto security side event called Don't Get Played that took place during TOKEN2049.The event was promoted by self-proclaimed organizers Apex Accelerator and Stone Venture. It is alleged that the organizers pressured and induced attendees on-site to install malware that would allow the organizers to remotely take full control of their computers.

Co-founder Edison released an update regarding the recent data breach incident involving encrypted cards. Edison stated that the compliance and operations team is contacting affected users, has reported to relevant agencies such as the Personal Data Protection Commission (PDPC), and has formally filed a police report. They are currently working closely with law enforcement, and the encrypted card business continues to operate normally.

According to reports from Japan's Jiji Press and TBS, Japanese police have arrested 6 individuals suspected of laundering money for a fraud group through cryptocurrency assets. Police investigations indicate that the gang is suspected of handling approximately 91 million yen (about 580,000 USD) in fraud funds between February and March 2024, involving around 30 victims.The funds first entered the company's bank account, then were exchanged for BTC, converted to USDT through overseas channels, and returned to the fraud group. The individuals involved are reportedly charging a commission of about 1%.

According to a report by Reuters on October 9, the Philadelphia police stated in a statement that a model from the artificial intelligence company Anthropic submitted a false murder case tip through the Philadelphia police website. Anthropic notified the police earlier this week and stated that the submission was caused by an automated testing process.The police said the tip was submitted through PhillyUnsolvedMurders.com on July 18, 2026, involving an unsolved murder case, claiming to possibly have information about the case. The submission was marked as spam and was never forwarded to the Real-Time Crime Center for investigation or distribution. The police also stated that no unauthorized access to the system was found, nor was any departmental data leaked.Anthropic informed the police that after discovering the situation, it had stopped the related testing process and added verification mechanisms for future tests. The company plans to release a report on the matter on Friday. Reuters reported that Anthropic did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California stated that a 26-year-old man, Adam Iza, who calls himself the "Godfather," has been sentenced to 78 months in prison and must pay $23.4 million in restitution. He pleaded guilty in January 2025 to charges of conspiracy to violate rights, wire fraud, and tax evasion, and has been in custody since September 2024. This sentence will run concurrently with the 15-year sentence he received last month for an attempted Bitcoin robbery, which will not increase his actual time served.From August 2021 to April 2022, Iza hired off-duty Los Angeles County police officers as private security and admitted to conspiring with them to obtain law enforcement confidential records and personal data of individuals he had disputes with, obtaining court-authorized search warrants to track these individuals, and having the officers intimidate and threaten them. The Department of Justice stated that five former officers have been convicted for working for him, including 42-year-old Eric Chase Saavedra, who set up a security company providing these officers, and was sentenced to 21 months; 45-year-old Michael David Coberg, who assisted in extorting rivals and arranged false drug arrests, is serving a 63-month sentence. The prosecution wrote in the sentencing memorandum that wealthy individuals cannot buy "search warrants, arrests, badges, or guns" for private disputes.In another fraud case, since December 2020, Iza gained access to a Meta Business Manager account and its associated credit line, reselling it to advertising companies, with Meta clients being charged for ads they never purchased. After discovering this, Meta refunded the clients and absorbed the losses.

According to Decrypt, Carli Michelle Heller, a woman from Bonita Springs, Florida, was arrested for using Claude as a diary. Investigators stated that she wrote about "shooting" the Lee County Sheriff's Office on September 26, and the next day claimed she had acquired a new gun. Anthropic's safety system flagged these conversations as serious, and the platform handed them over to a human review team, which reported to law enforcement. Officers then identified Heller, went to her residence, and detained her. She was charged with making written threats of violence, and the case is scheduled to go to court in November.Anthropic's consumer terms explicitly reserve the right to "decide on their own" to report user inputs, outputs, or behaviors to law enforcement. Its privacy policy, effective September 10, 2026, also allows the company to share data with police when it reasonably believes that disclosure is necessary to prevent serious harm. Even if users choose not to use their data for model training, Anthropic can still use their data within three months, rather than five years; conversations flagged for review will also be used to improve harmful content detection capabilities.This is not the first case. The San Francisco Standard reported in September that Anthropic had referred a user to the police, who allegedly wrote that they purchased an AR-15 rifle and had the company's CEO Dario Amodei in their sights, claiming it was just a joke. At the time of the report, the user had not been arrested or charged, and an Anthropic spokesperson stated that this was "our protective process working as intended."

Greek police dismantled a cryptocurrency investment fraud gang and arrested 17 people, including 9 military personnel. Preliminary investigations by the police show that about 10,000 people participated in the investment, with an average investment of around 800 euros per person, and the amount involved is estimated to exceed 8 million euros.The gang operated by recruiting new members to obtain higher returns, exhibiting clear "pyramid" characteristics. In addition, the gang recently froze the withdrawal function and claimed that investors could receive double their principal back after 50 days if they doubled their investment. The police have currently seized about 280,000 euros, and the investigation is ongoing.

According to Decrypt, the European Union's law enforcement agency reported that Spanish police arrested a 16-year-old Romanian suspect in Alicante, suspected of being an administrator and main operator of the ransomware group KillSec.Two other suspects in their twenties were arrested in the UK and Romania, respectively; another developer who just turned 18 in August this year has been identified but has not been arrested due to some crimes occurring during their minor years.This operation, codenamed Operation KillSwitch, was led by the Hamburg State Criminal Police and the city's prosecution office, focusing on approximately 1,000 suspected attacks worldwide, with about 500 confirmed as successful intrusions.Law enforcement searched eight locations in Spain, Greece, Romania, and the UK, seized five central servers, and redirected related domain names to seizure announcement pages, while also confiscating at least 110 TB of stolen data.KillSec has been active since around 2024, exploiting software vulnerabilities and poorly secured cloud storage entry points to infiltrate corporate systems, copying internal data and naming victim organizations on dark web leak sites, threatening to publicly release documents to demand cryptocurrency ransoms, and if the target refuses to pay, they release the data for free.The Swiss Federal Police noted that the group also employed double extortion tactics, first encrypting servers and then applying pressure. U.S. prosecutors' charges indicate that a Dutch national residing in the UK, Fouad Eltibrizi (nicknamed Archduke), was indicted by a federal grand jury in Puerto Rico on September 16, subsequently arrested, and awaiting extradition, facing up to 10 years in prison. The European Cybercrime Centre, under the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation, is assisting in tracing cryptocurrency funds and conducting digital forensics.

According to the Star newspaper, police in the central region of Perak, in collaboration with the National Energy Company (TNB), launched an operation in Seri Iskandar to dismantle an illegal cryptocurrency mining site and arrested two local men.The individuals involved are suspected of illegally connecting wires to power Bitcoin mining machines. Police seized 30 Bitcoin mining machines, routers, desktop switches, and a roll of wire at the scene. The case is being investigated under Section 427 of the Penal Code and Section 37(1) of the Electricity Supply Act 1990.Police emphasized that stealing electricity for mining is not only illegal but can also cause significant losses to the power company and pose a fire risk.