News briefing – Week of 7 March

9/03 Arrests and seizures in a 28-country operation targeting trafficking in cultural property. A global operation targeting illicit trafficking in cultural goods has led to 52 arrests and the seizure of 9 408 cultural artefacts across the world. These priceless items include archaeological objects, furniture, coins, paintings, musical instruments and statuettes. 08/03 Southern Cone Ports…

News briefing – week of 28 February

28/03 Criminal network distributing fake dark web documents busted. An investigation by the French Border Police (Police aux Frontières/Police Judiciaire which forms part of the National Police) and the Spanish National Police (Policía Nacional), supported by Europol, led officers to the dismantling of an organised crime group involved in the procurement and distribution of forged…

News briefing – week of 21 February

21/02 Tobacco smuggling ring brought down in Spain and Portugal. With the support of Europol’s European Financial and Economic Crime Centre, a joint investigation between Spain’s Civil Guard (Guardia Civil) and Customs Surveillance Directorate (Dirección Adjunta de Vigilancia Aduanera) and Portugal’s Republican National Guard (Guardia Nacional Republicana) has led to the dismantlement of a criminal…

News briefing week of 14 February

15/02 45 people arrested in the crackdown on Albanian-speaking criminals and cocaine trafficking. An international operation involving judicial and law enforcement authorities in eight countries has resulted in the takedown of one of Europe’s most active Albanian-speaking cocaine trafficking networks Europe. On this occasion, Eurojust and Europol supported a series of actions carried out in…

News briefing week 7 February

07/02 Ammunition seized in Dakar from a Guyanese ship. The Eolika, a cargo ship flying the Guyanese flag, was detained in the port of Dakar. When the authorities searched the vessel, three containers of Italian-made ammunition worth an estimated $5 million were seized. https://allafrica.com/stories/202202080183.html 07/02 The discovery of a torture chamber used by drug gangs. Seized in…

News briefing week of 31 January

31/01 The crime gangs cashing in by burying illegal waste. Organised crime gangs are illegally burying thousands of tonnes of waste across Scotland, a BBC investigation has found. Some of the rubbish is being brought up from the north of England by the gangs and is believed to include hazardous clinical waste from hospitals. 01/02…

News briefing week of 24 January

25/01 Illicit gold mining in Ecuador – challenges and considerations. Although exploration of the country’s mineral resources is not complete, the government estimates that the mining of gold and copper will generate around USD $4 billion in tax revenue and about USD $40 billion in exports over the next decade. There are, however, challenges with…

News briefing week of 17 January

17/01 NDLEA intercepts cocaine, cannabis, 1.5m tramadol tablets, others in nationwide raids. The NDLEA spokesman also said the same day, 425,000 Diazepam tablets were recovered at Segemu, Kano. He said in the past week, N1,413,344 was seized along with arms and ammunition from a suspected bandit and a drug kingpin in Plateau State while over…

News briefing week of 10 January

10/01 Virtual currencies are being used increasingly in human and drug trafficking, the Government Accountability Office says in a new report. 10/01 Cocaine with a street value of over 5 billion euros was intercepted in the port of Rotterdam last year. A collaboration of customs, FIOD, Seaport Police, and Public Prosecution Service in Rotterdam found…