On April, the Gwangju Police Agency’s Security Investigation Department in South Korea arrested four Uzbek suspects under the “Act on Prohibition of Financing Terrorism” and disclosed the case to the public on Tuesday. One of them is listed in a red notice by Interpol. The police stated that this is the first case involving cryptocurrency flowing out from a recognized terrorist organization and then returning as physical goods for funding.

According to the police investigation, from August 2024 to April 2025, the alleged mastermind transferred 4,267 USDT to the Syrian terrorist organization “Katibat Tawhid wal Jihad” (KTJ) in seven transactions. KTJ was established in 2014, mainly composed of Central Asian militants, and has been designated as a terrorist organization by the United Nations and the United States. Additionally, the mastermind is also accused of receiving cryptocurrency from KTJ to purchase 11 used cars and 2 excavators, with a total value of approximately 170 million Korean won (about 121,000 USD), which were then transported to Syria. The other three suspects are alleged to have assisted in the purchase and export of these vehicles.

The police stated that previous terrorism-related cases mostly involved remittances to terrorist organizations, while this case is the first to involve receiving funds from a terrorist organization and reverse procurement and supply of vehicles. The investigation revealed that the mastermind rotated operations among three personal wallets, with the vehicle purchase funds deposited into an account under his spouse’s name, and he presented someone else’s driver’s license at the time of arrest. He entered South Korea in 2017 on a student visa, graduated from a university in Daejeon, and has been illegally staying since 2023. He denied the main charges during his first court hearing in June, claiming that the remittances were for family living expenses and that he did not know the identity of the vehicle purchasers. The police stated that the investigation also led to the capture of a second suspect listed in a red notice, and the case is still ongoing.