October 9, 2025. A mild afternoon in Minneapolis. Traffic was flowing like any other day. Officer Liam Carver noticed an SUV weaving slightly, its license plates partially obscured. Routine traffic stops were mundane, but something about this vehicle set off alarms.

When the officer inspected the trunk, he discovered $418,000 in cash, neatly bundled and labeled. It wasn’t a simple cash seizure—it was a breadcrumb. A hint at a much larger network. Carver called in ICE HSI and the FBI. And that was when Operation North Ledger began.

At the center: Mohamed Abdi Hassan, a Somali-born county supervisor. A man respected in his community. Charismatic, organized, untouchable—or so it seemed. Hassan was not alone. He had an inner circle: logistics managers, nonprofit administrators, crypto brokers, and freight contractors. Each played a role in moving narcotics proceeds across six states.

The scale was staggering. $1.7 billion in confirmed seized currency. Another $5.9 billion under grand jury review. And every transaction was tied to at least one narcotics shipment. The human cost, though less visible at first, was devastating.

Chapter 3: The Network’s Mechanics

Investigators spent months piecing together the operation. They discovered 3.2 tons of narcotics proceeds laundered through inflated invoices and sub-$10,000 wire clusters. Each small transfer was part of a larger strategy designed to evade regulatory scrutiny.

Crypto wallets added another layer of complexity. Bitcoin and Ethereum were being used to obscure ownership. Offshore intermediaries acted as buffers. Even among investigators, it became clear: anyone trying to unravel this network would face a mental maze of false leads, encrypted files, and offshore misdirection.

Chapter 4: Raids Across the State

After 18 months of surveillance, intelligence gathering, and undercover operations, federal agents executed coordinated raids across 29 locations. Minneapolis office buildings, suburban homes, storage units, and nonprofit headquarters were stormed.

Detentions were massive: 2,367 individuals arrested in connection to the money laundering network. Hassan himself was cornered in his downtown office. Inside, investigators found encrypted server vaults hidden behind false walls, stacks of documents, and evidence of offshore transfers.