Spanish officers have recently arrested eight individuals and charged eight more for allegedly involved in running a crypto money laundering scheme.

According to a press release, the scheme was conducted by a group of people, who laundered money by exchanging fiat currency to crypto assets. The gang reportedly used two cryptocurrency ATMs to deposit illegal cash and transform it into cryptocurrency for other criminal groups. To avoid suspicion, they split funds into smaller amount before placing into the financial system.

The fraud reportedly deposited cash in different bank accounts, then moved it around through several accounts before exchanging it for crypto. Considerable transfers were sent to oversea accounts from their own corporate accounts and even wired money to cryptocurrency exchanges.

“The operation was a follow-up of operation Guatuzo also supported by Europol in which 23 people were arrested in summer 2018 in Spain and Colombia,” the statement says.

Seven houses were searched during the investigations, including a money exchange office and an indoor cannabis grow operation. Eleven vehicles, €16,800 ($18,800), nearly 200 cannabis plants, two crypto ATMs, devices, computers, and relevant documents were seized by the police.

Spanish authorities also froze four cold wallets and 20 hot wallets, which contained about €9 million ($10,000) in criminal funds.

Earlier this month, Brazilian police arrested a man for operating an illegal drug laboratory and using Bitcoin (BTC) to launder the proceeds, reported by The Crypto Sight on May 2.