14/07- 514 employers linked to labour infringements identified across the EU. An EU-wide coordinated action week targeting human trafficking for labour exploitation and related offences took place between 15 and 21 June 2022. The action days, supported by Europol, were led by the Netherlands and co-led by France, Italy, Romania and the United Kingdom and involved 29 countries in total as well as the European Labour Authority and the European Commission. A wide range of law enforcement authorities including police, immigration and border guards, labour inspectorates and tax authorities took part in the coordinated operational activities.
15/07 – From the Sahel to Dubai: On the trail of dirty gold (video documentary). In the Sahel, the number of informal mines is rising as gold mining areas escape state control. Mali is emerging as a gold-purchasing hub for Sahelian countries, while Dubai has become the main destination for artisanal gold production from the African continent. From the hidden smelters of Bamako to the artisanal mines of the Ivory Coast and a major gold market in Dubai, Caroline Dumay investigates the transforming global gold industry.
15/07 – Mexico arrests Caro Quintero, drug lord convicted in death of DEA agent. Mexican Marines on Friday captured fugitive drug lord Rafael Caro Quintero, a top target of U.S. law enforcement who was convicted in the 1985 killing of a DEA agent, an event that transformed the American government’s war on narcotics traffickers, according to Mexican authorities.
15/07 – 11 arrests in Germany, Poland and the UK for smuggling migrants from Belarus into the EU. A cross-border operation, coordinated by Europol and involving law enforcement authorities from Estonia, Germany, Lithuania, Poland and the UK, has led to the dismantling of an organised crime network smuggling migrants from Belarus into the EU. In addition to the arrests and house searches carried out during the action day, Estonian and Lithuanian law enforcement authorities carried out checks on vehicles travelling on internal roads and crossing external borders. The operational activities were carried out in the framework of Europol’s Operational Task Force Flow, set up to tackle migrant smuggling networks active along the EU-Belarus border.
15/07- 82 people smugglers arrested in a Frontex-led operation. Frontex led an international operation against serious and organised cross-border crime in Central and South-Eastern Europe together with the Austrian authorities, 13 countries, Europol, Eurojust and INTERPOL. The operation, known as EMPACT Joint Action Day (JAD) Danube, focused on combatting the smuggling of migrants, fighting trafficking in human beings and document fraud.
