Spain Busts Lucrative Chinese-Arab Money Laundering Ring

Spanish police escorted a Chinese national suspected of involvement in an Arab money laundering scheme on May 14, 2025. Image via the Spanish national police.

Spanish police on Wednesday said they had broken up a Chinese-Arab ring that laundered $21 million of proceeds from people and drug trafficking through the informal “hawala” money transfer system.

Police said the investigation began after the dismantling of a migrant-trafficking gang transporting mostly Syrians between Algeria and Spain, which led to a probe into their finances.

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