25.09.23 – On the run for decades, convicted Mafia boss Messina Denaro dies in hospital months after capture. Matteo Messina Denaro, a convicted mastermind of some of the Sicilian Mafia’s most heinous slayings, died on Monday in a hospital prison ward, several months after being captured as Italy’s No. 1 fugitive and following decades on the run, Italian prosecutors said. Rai state radio, reporting from L’Aquila hospital in central Italy, said the heavy police detail that had been guarding his hospital room moved to the hospital morgue, following the death of Messina Denaro at about 2 a.m. Doctors had said he had been in a coma since Friday.
26.09.23 – Two explosions rip through residential buildings in Sweden reportedly linked to a gang feud. Following the explosions, the Swedish government said it will hold a meeting to identify measures to fight the gang violence that can be quickly implemented. Two powerful explosions ripped through residential buildings in central Sweden injuring at least three people. Late on Monday, an explosion occurred in Hasselby, a suburb of the capital, Stockholm. In the early hours of Tuesday, a blast in Linkoping, some 175 kilometres to the southwest, ripped the facade off a three-story building, leaving debris strewn across a parking area. It was not known whether the blasts were related to each other. Swedish newspaper Expressen said both explosions were connected to a feud between criminal gangs, a growing problem in Sweden with drive-by shootings and bombings. Two gangs – one led by a Swedish-Turkish dual national who lives in Turkey, the other by his former lieutenant – are reportedly fighting over drugs and weapons. So far this year, there have been 261 shootings, killing 36 people and injuring 73.
28.09.23 – Essex drug and firearms gang who made ‘easy money’ are jailed. Members of an organised crime group which trafficked Class A drugs and guns in Essex have each been handed lengthy prison sentences. Police said they seized a large quantity of cocaine, firearms and £750,000 in cash after the five men were arrested in March 2022.
29.09.23 – Operation Venetic: Prolific drug dealer sentenced. An Albanian drug dealer who supplied more than £1million of cocaine in just four months has been jailed after a Right Move advert exposed the location of his illicit business. National Crime Agency investigators identified that Xhuljan Shehu had used the encrypted communications platform EncroChat to deal the class A drug. The 30-year-old oversaw cocaine importations and distribution in the UK, and arranged for drugs to be sold in the Belgian cities of Anvers and Brussels. Proceeds were then laundered to Albania and the Netherlands.
01.10.23 – UN to vote on resolution to authorize one-year deployment of armed force to help Haiti fight gangs. SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — The U.N. Security Council is scheduling a vote Monday on a resolution that would authorize a one-year deployment of an international force to help Haiti quell a surge in gang violence and restore security so the troubled Caribbean nation can hold long-delayed elections. The U.S.-drafted resolution obtained by The Associated Press on Saturday welcomes Kenya’s offer to lead the multinational security force. It makes clear this would be a non-U.N. force funded by voluntary contributions. The resolution would authorize the force for one year, with a review after nine months.
