International crypto network with terror funding links busted, 9 arrested from 3 states: Police
The CID Cyber Centre of Excellence dismantled a massive dark web crypto syndicate spanning three states, linking illicit funds to Hamas and Houthi rebels.
A total of nine persons were booked for criminal conspiracy, aiding terrorist operations through financial channels and waging war against a foreign state at peace with India The Cyber Centre of Excellence (CCoE), of CID Crime on Tuesday said it had unearthed and dismantled a massive international financial syndicate allegedly linked to terror financing and narcotics. A total of 9 accused persons were arrested.
A statement issued by the CCoE said, “The technical unit uncovered this sophisticated network by analysing cryptocurrency wallets and transactions. The investigation revealed that the syndicate was operating on the Dark Web for narcotics distribution, money laundering and financing designated international terrorist organisations.”
A total of nine persons were booked for criminal conspiracy, aiding terrorist operations through financial channels and waging war against a foreign state at peace with India, under BNS Sections 111(2)(B), 153, and 61, as well as sections 66(C) and 66(D) of the Information Technology Act.
The police identified the accused as Mohsin Sadiq Mohamed Molani Chhipa, Ejaz Aslamkhan Pathan, Mohammedzaid Abdulkaderbhai Siddi, Naved Ayubkhan Pathan, Faizahmed Nassaruddin Chishti, Salmankhan Habibkhan Pathan, and Gulam Sadiq Ibadullah Ansari (Father of UK-jail inmate Salman Ansari), all from Ahmedabad, Gujarat; Zeeshan Siraj Motiwala of Mumbai, Maharashtra and Lovepreet Darshansingh Madharu of Karnal, Haryana.
The investigation was initiated after illegal transactions from a dark web narcotics website were traced to a cryptocurrency wallet owned by an Ahmedabad resident, Mohsin Sadiq Molani. Technical analysis of Molani’s digital wallet exposed interconnected financial transactions with 9 other suspicious crypto users across India, said the CCoE officials.
To evade detection by law enforcement agencies, the syndicate heavily utilised untraceable and anonymous cryptocurrencies like Monero (amounting to approximately Rs 2 Crore), which are globally preferred for terror financing and dark web activities.
About the alleged links to Hamas, the CCoE said, “A major breakthrough revealed that a Cryptocurrency wallet belonging to another accused, Mohammed Zuber Mohammedhussein Popatiya, had been previously frozen in 2025 by Israel’s National Bureau for Counter Terror Financing (NBCTF). This wallet maintained direct transactional links with the ‘Dubai Company for Exchange’, a front utilised by the ‘Hamas’ terror organisation.”
Regarding funding from other groups sanctioned by the US government, the statement said, “Funds were allegedly actively transferred into the syndicate’s wallets from entities blacklisted by the United States Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). These included Yemen’s ‘Ansar Allah’ (Houthi) rebel group, Iran’s ‘IRGC-QF’, Russia’s sanctioned exchange ‘Garantex’, and wallets associated with the Ilan Shor cluster (associated with a Moldovan oligarch of the same name).”
The accused integrated huge sums of illicit funds originating from cyber scams, dark web transactions, and international smuggling operations. They rotated these funds internally across their personal wallets, converted this “Dirty Crypto” into stable USDT coins, and systematically routed the money into international criminal networks, alleged the CCoE.
It further said, “Interrogations and evidence recovered from Mohsin Molani exposed a massive drug trafficking operation running in the United Kingdom since 2023. Molani procured narcotics orders through Telegram groups and digital channels, forwarding details to Dubai-based kingpin Mohammed Zuber Popatiya, who fulfilled the drug supplies via his UK network.”
Molani is also accused of also managing orders with Salman Gulamali Ansari, who was sentenced to six years of imprisonment in October 2024 and is currently in a UK prison, “yet evidence proves he continues to manage the drug network from behind bars”. The CCoE said that Salman Ansari and Mohammed Zuber Popatiya acted as the masterminds of this terror finance and Monero routing structure. The generated illicit cash was funneled back to India through Angadia and Hawala networks, where Molani would collect it and hand it over to Salman’s father, Gulam Sadiq Ibadullah Ansari.
Further, a cross-reference with the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (NCCRP) revealed that the P2P bank accounts linked with the Binance accounts of these accused were actively involved in 935 cyber fraud cases, wherein money swindled from innocent victims via identity theft and digital fraud was absorbed into multiple wallet layers.
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