News briefing week of 06 December

06/12 Cocaine Comrades: The Balkan ties of a fallen Colombian drug trafficker. From Marcos and Soldado to Tito and Chiquito, the drug trafficking ties between Colombia and the Balkans run deep. 08/12 Europol Pandora Papers report warns of ‘parallel underground system’ exploited by criminal networks. In an interview with ICIJ member Kristof Clerix, Europol director…

News briefing week of 29 November

29/11 Global coalition seizes 145.3 tonnes of cocaine – Colombia’s navy. Military and police authorities from more than 40 countries across Europe and the Americas confiscated 145.3 tonnes of cocaine in the eighth phase of Operation Orion, a multinational naval operation against drug trafficking, Colombia’s navy said on Monday. 29/11 12 online fraudsters arrested in…

News briefing week of 22 November

22/11 GI-TOC uncovers the scope of contract killings linked to organized crime. At least 2,700 contract killings took place in 2019 and 2020 in more than 80 countries, enabling criminals to silence those who oppose them and dissuade efforts into investigating their activities, according to a Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime (GI-TOC) report. 23/11…

News briefing week of 15 November

15/11 Narcotics trafficker extradited from Colombia to face international cocaine distribution charges. Fabian Emilio Zapata Taborda is allegedly responsible for supplying cocaine to the Clan del Golfo and other drug trafficking organizations. 16/11 Italian police break up drug smuggling ring tied to Calabria mob. Over 100 people were arrested in Italy as members of a…

News briefing week of 08 November

08/11 Gold, diamonds and drugs: Portuguese peacekeepers suspected of smuggling. Portuguese police have clamped down on a crime ring that allegedly involved the country’s U.N. peacekeepers in the Central African Republic (CAR) using military planes to smuggle gold, diamonds and drugs, authorities said on Monday. According to Portuguese police, the “criminal network” had international links…

News briefing week of 01 November

01/11 Customs officials made the largest drug bust of 2021 at the Port of Rotterdam as 4,178 kilos of cocaine was seized in the Netherlands. According to a statement published by the Public Prosecution Service in Rotterdam on Sunday, customs officials found the drugs in two containers from Paraguay, which were loaded onto another ship…

News briefing week of 25 October

26/10 Criminal group behind €45 million money laundering scheme dismantled in Spain. On 6 October 2021, 5 suspects were arrested in the Spanish province of Valencia for allegedly belonging to a criminal organisation that had laundered more than €45 million in Spain. This operation was carried out by the Spanish National Police (Policía Nacional), together…

News briefing week of 18 October

18/10 Morocco police seize over one tonne of cocaine in Tangier port -statement. The ship departed from Brazil and was heading to the ports of Antwerp in Belgium and Portbury in the UK, the police said in a statement. 19/10 Senegal seizes record 2 tonnes of cocaine off Atlantic coast. The 2,026 kilos of cocaine…

News briefing week of 11 October

14/10 Nigerian navy intercepts vessel, arrest 22 over cocaine trafficking. 22 Thai seafarers were arrested over alleged attempt to traffic 32.9kg of cocaine from Brazil into the shores of Nigeria. 14/10 Customs officers seized a total of 1,182 kilograms of cocaine in two different containers on the same ship at the port of Rotterdam. The…

News briefing week of 4 October

04/10 Police across EU arrest 330 organized crime suspects. Spanish authorities coordinated a Europe-wide operation that targeted several transnational organized crime groups and resulted in 330 arrests and dozens of new investigations into drug smuggling and illegal firearms trafficking. International police bodies, such as Interpol and Europol, facilitated intelligence sharing for the operation that involved…