Brazilian Civil Police Dismantles Crypto Laundering Scheme Employed by Drug Gang

The Civil Police of São Paulo, Brazil, dismantled a money laundering scheme managed by the drug gang First Capital Command (PCC) that operated a company operating as a crypto exchange, the police said on X (formerly Twitter) on Tuesday.

The company conducted transactions worth approximately 500 million reais ($89 million), according to a CNN report. During the raid, the police seized checks worth 55 million reais ($8.9 million) at the company’s headquarters, whose name was not released at this time.

The raids took place after the Civil Police of São Paulo received orders on Tuesday to execute 20 arrest warrants and 60 search and seizure warrants against people linked to the First Capital Command in different cities in the state of São Paulo.

Brazilian courts, on the other hand, have blocked more than 8 billion reais ($1427 million) in assets of those involved in the investigations.

The First Capital Command is known as Latin America’s biggest gang, with nearly 40,000 members and close to 60,000 contractors, according to a recent report by The Economist.