Some people may not know that bitcoin can be traced to someone if the government wants to trace it. This is not the first time such bad actors are known.
I am hearing this for the first time that a transaction can be traced even the one that is done through mixer service.
I think in this story, the focus is not about mixer becomes tracible and their service is now useless. I dont think that he got caught after specialists traced mixed coins, but he got caught because he used exchanged and cards. Imo that is the moment when he has lost his anonymity or partly disclosed his identity. Finish of his laundering scheme failed and let authorities identify him. Or his lifestyle becomes suspicious and someone compared his income with expenses and started digging.