The National Crime Agency (NCA) has revealed a shocking connection between cocaine purchases in the UK and the funding of Russian arms factories. A Russian-led money-laundering network operating in Britain has been using a Kyrgyzstan-based bank to facilitate payments for Russia’s military-industrial complex, including arms production for the Ukraine war. The NCA’s investigation, dubbed Operation Destabilise, has uncovered a sprawling criminal ecosystem that processes cash for drug gangs, illegal firearms suppliers, and people smugglers.