How police can stop crypto scams with coordination

By Robert Whitaker

When Spanish authorities dismantled a €460 million (≈ $542 million USD) cryptocurrency fraud ring in June 2025, Operation Borrelli was celebrated as one of the largest crypto investment scam takedowns in European history. More than 5,000 victims had been defrauded. Dozens of shell companies and payment processors were exposed. Crypto wallets and bank accounts linked to illicit proceeds were seized.

For those of us who have worked in law enforcement and blockchain intelligence, the most important takeaway was not the size of the fraud. It was the message that coordinated, well-equipped law enforcement agencies can dismantle even the most sophisticated crypto-enabled criminal networks.

Operation Borrelli demonstrates that crypto crime is not beyond the reach of the law. It is only out of reach when institutions remain fragmented and investigative teams are unprepared. The question is no longer whether these crimes can be solved. The question is whether the global law enforcement community is ready to invest in solving them.

Spain’s success was not a fluke

The criminal enterprise behind the Spanish takedown followed a familiar and increasingly dangerous playbook. Fraudsters used fake cryptocurrency trading platforms to lure victims with promises of high returns. They built trust through email campaigns, phone calls from impostors posing as financial advisors, and even romance scams. This type of long-game manipulation, commonly referred to as “pig butchering,” has become one of the most effective methods for extracting funds from unsuspecting victims.

Once deposits were made, the money disappeared into a highly structured laundering network. Shell companies registered in Hong Kong, synthetic identities, and poorly regulated payment processors all played a role. Funds were routed through crypto exchanges and wallets in jurisdictions that lacked enforcement cooperation. By the time victims realized they had been defrauded, the assets had often been layered across multiple blockchains and platforms, making them extremely difficult to track without advanced tools.

Despite this complexity, the case broke open. The Spanish Guardia Civil responded to early warning signs, specifically a spike in suspicious transaction reports and consumer complaints from Madrid and the Canary Islands. They launched a cross-border investigation that came to involve Europol, France, Estonia, and the United States. Together, they tracked the syndicate’s digital footprint across multiple continents.

This success was not simply a matter of collaboration. It depended on the deployment of technical expertise and blockchain analytics. Europol’s financial crime specialists worked directly with Spanish investigators to analyze wallet activity, trace transactions, and uncover links between digital assets, corporate structures, and payment processors. Homeland Security Investigations contributed to evidence preservation and helped trace flows to financial infrastructure beyond Europe. This coordinated effort resulted in five arrests, five property searches, and the seizure of both cryptocurrency wallets and traditional bank accounts suspected of holding criminal proceeds.

Crypto crime thrives in gaps between jurisdictions

Too many jurisdictions still treat crypto-related crime as if it is either too complex to pursue or not worth prioritizing. This approach leaves the door wide open for fraudsters. While regulators have made progress through initiatives like the European Union’s MiCA framework or the Financial Action Task Force’s guidance on virtual assets, these rules alone do not translate into meaningful enforcement unless investigative capabilities catch up.

Criminal networks are exploiting gaps in regulation and compliance, often moving funds through payment processors that fail to screen for suspicious behavior. Exchanges that neglect to monitor high-risk transactions or allow synthetic identities to create accounts also contribute to the problem. When enforcement is fragmented and intelligence sharing is slow, even basic laundering techniques can succeed.

Operation Borrelli showed that this does not have to be the norm. The use of Europol’s SIENA platform allowed for timely, secure information sharing across borders. Technical experts were embedded on-site with Spanish law enforcement, enabling investigators to respond to leads in real time. This level of coordination and speed is what made it possible to disrupt a large-scale crypto fraud scheme. It is a model that must be replicated more broadly.

Law enforcement must modernize or fall behind

The technology to investigate and prosecute crypto crime already exists. Blockchain analytics tools can monitor transactions across chains, detect obfuscation patterns, and produce court-admissible evidence. At Merkle Science, we work with agencies that are building these capabilities from the ground up. What we often see is that when investigative teams are given the right tools and training, their effectiveness increases dramatically.

However, technology is only part of the solution. Agencies must also modernize their internal structures. Financial crime units need digital asset specialists, data analysts, and forensic examiners who can work together on fast-moving cases. Traditional investigation models were not built for crimes involving pseudonymous assets, multi-jurisdictional laundering, or automated fraud campaigns. They must now be adapted to deal with these challenges.

Criminal actors are evolving. They are using artificial intelligence to generate phishing campaigns, automate social engineering, and clone legitimate financial platforms. They are also taking advantage of decentralized exchanges, privacy coins, and chain-hopping to hide the movement of funds. Unless law enforcement evolves at a similar pace, the gap will continue to widen.

This is not just a matter of keeping up with innovation. It is a matter of protecting the public. The victims of these scams are not just early adopters or crypto investors. They include retirees, small business owners, students, and working families. They are targeted because they can be manipulated, and they are often left with little recourse when their savings disappear.

A blueprint that must be scaled globally

The dismantling of the Spanish fraud ring should not be seen as a one-off success. It should serve as a framework for future action. With trained investigators, behavior-based analytics, secure data exchange and international collaboration, large-scale crypto fraud can be investigated and prosecuted effectively.

Now the challenge is scaling that model. Policymakers must ensure that regulations are backed by enforcement resources. Lawmakers should fund specialized task forces and provide tools that support real-time investigation. International organizations must continue to remove barriers to intelligence sharing and develop consistent standards for how virtual assets are monitored and investigated.

Crypto is not inherently ungovernable. It becomes that way when institutions fail to keep up. The technology used by criminals is not invisible. It is only effective when we choose not to look closely.

There is no shortage of fraud taking place right now. The next billion-dollar case is already in motion somewhere in the world. Whether it ends up in court or disappears into a maze of shell companies and wallets will depend on whether we act on the lessons from Operation Borrelli.

About the author

Robert Whitaker is Director of Law Enforcement Affairs at Merkle Science and a former Supervisory Special Agent with Homeland Security Investigations. He specializes in blockchain investigations, financial crime strategy, and cross-border intelligence collaboration.