25/10 – Notorious Nigerien Weapons Broker Lands Secret Arms Deal in Senegal. A contract seen by OCCRP shows how Aboubakar Hima, who allegedly skimmed millions from $240 million in corrupt arms deals in his native Niger, may be up to his old tricks further from home.
26/10 – ELN Oversees Rampant Cattle Smuggling Between Colombia and Venezuela. The ELN is involved in all manner of criminal economies along the Colombian-Venezuelan border, but its continuing role in facilitating cattle smuggling may be one of the most overlooked. Repeated operations carried out by Colombian authorities in 2022 have shown the decisive role played by the National Liberation Army (Ejército de Liberación Nacional – ELN) in helping to move cattle between Venezuela’s northern state of Apure and the neighboring Colombian state of Arauca.
28/10 – Law enforcement and the private sector strengthen cooperation in fight against intellectual property crime. On 27 and 28 October 2022, representatives from law enforcement agencies and the private sector met in Rome to share their expertise in the common fight against intellectual property crime. 400 experts from law enforcement agencies, private entities as well as key institutional partners gathered in this year’s edition of the Europol Intellectual Property Crime Conference organised in partnership with the Italian Guardia di Finanza and the International AntiCounterfeiting Coalition (IACC).
28/10 – Murder Record Broken in Northern Ecuador as Gang Feuds Fuel Violence. Esmeraldas, a province in northern Ecuador, has seen a sharp rise in homicides this year as the city becomes a major drug trafficking hotspot and the epicenter of an ongoing gang war. Over 325 people were murdered in Esmeraldas during the first eight months of 2022, more than double all the homicides recorded in 2021, Ecuadorian newspaper El Comercio reported on October 21.
30/10 – Drug prices rise in Afghanistan after Taliban outlaws trade. The price of illegal drugs has soared in Afghanistan since the Taliban outlawed the trade in one of the world’s biggest narcotics exporters, according to new data, despite limited evidence that the Islamist militants are enforcing the ban.
