UK Crime Gang Creates Meme Coin to Launder Drug Money

In a startling development out of the UK, a criminal organization has reportedly designed and launched its own cryptocurrency

A British crime gang has created its own meme coin in a money laundering operation, according to reports by the Daily Mail.

This marks the first known instance of a criminal organization launching a cryptocurrency token in the UK to launder the proceeds of crime.

Instead of using existing digital assets like Bitcoin or Ethereum and funneling them through traditional mixing services, the gang opted for a more direct and viral approach by designing its own meme coin.

The goal was to spark online interest, inflate the token’s value, and then cash out, making its earnings appear as legitimate gains from the crypto market rather than proceeds from crime.

The mid-tier crime group, whose identity and token details have not yet been disclosed, has its hands in drug distribution, fraud, trafficking counterfeit goods, and illicit tobacco.

Gary Carroll, a specialist in drug-related criminal networks at the University of Applied Sciences in Bremen, Germany, noted that while crypto has long been a tool for laundering, meme coins now present a simpler and faster route.

The gang’s strategy reportedly centers on leveraging social media hype to pump the coin’s value before rapidly dumping it for cash, disguising illegal profits as earnings from digital entrepreneurship.

With the ease of launching new tokens—thanks in part to platforms known as launchpads—experts warn that this might be the beginning of a wider trend.

Meme coin-related scams have already wreaked havoc on the market, causing billions in losses through fraudulent schemes like pump-and-dumps and rug pulls.

Carroll believes this approach could become increasingly common. He expects future court cases to spotlight the tactic, as more criminal groups look to “semi-legitimize” their operations through the deceptive appearance of tech innovation.

A recent report by Merkle Science highlighted just how widespread meme coin scams have become. In 2024 alone, over half a billion dollars were lost in these schemes.

The vast majority of incidents stemmed from platforms like X (formerly Twitter) and YouTube, and social engineering played a major role. Solana was identified as the most common blockchain used for rug pulls, largely due to tools that simplify the creation and marketing of meme tokens.