Investigators from Italy, Latvia and Lithuania took action against a money laundering ring and arrested 18 people in a joint operation, Europol announced in The Hague on Wednesday. The main focus of the operation was reportedly a financial institution in Lithuania, which had been set up under a cover by an organized criminal gang from Italy. “Since 2017, an estimated €2 billion ($2.1 billion) has been laundered by two main suspects via a worldwide web of shell companies. The suspects, who now have been detained, offered money laundering online as a service to criminals,” Europol said. Accordin…