I wouldn't call that a money laundering operation, but rather an unlicensed money transmitter. The latter is fairly common and carries much smaller penalties and less stigma.
Hmm. Not sure. A mixer only has one job - disguise the source of your funds. That's the only reason it exists and that's the only reason people use them. Now of course for most people it's for privacy, not disguising the proceeds of crime. I'm not sure the law can be bothered to delineate the difference. It's the intent of the service provider rather than the needs of the users that they'll go after.