02.05.23 – 288 dark web vendors arrested in major marketplace seizure. In an operation coordinated by Europol and involving nine countries, law enforcement have seized the illegal dark web marketplace “Monopoly Market” and arrested 288 suspects involved in buying or selling drugs on the dark web. More than EUR 50.8 million (USD 53.4 million) in cash and virtual currencies, 850 kg of drugs, and 117 firearms were seized. The seized drugs include over 258 kg of amphetamines, 43 kg of cocaine, 43 kg of MDMA and over 10 kg of LSD and ecstasy pills.
03.05.23 – Joint police operation targets Italian mafia in several European countries. German and Italian police arrest dozens in a massive sweep against Calabrian ’Ndrangheta organised crime syndicate. A massive police operation targeting the extensive and powerful Calabrian mafia, the ‘Ndrangheta, was launched on Wednesday morning in five European countries, including Italy and Germany.
04.05.23 – International art trafficking sting leads to 60 arrests and over 11 000 objects recovered. Law enforcement has arrested 60 people, and recovered 11 049 stolen artefacts as part of a major international art trafficking crackdown across 14 European countries. Known as Pandora VII, this operation was led by Spain (Guardia Civil), with the support of Europol and INTERPOL. This iteration of the annual Pandora operation consisted of an operational phase which ran between 13 to 24 September 2022 and which saw several thousands of checks being carried out at various airports, ports and border crossing points, as well as in auction houses, museums and private houses.
04.05.23 – Men posed as cleaners to smuggle £1m of cocaine through docks. Two men who posed as cleaners for a ferry company in an attempt to smuggle cocaine into the UK have been jailed after a National Crime Agency investigation. Kevin Carter, 56, from Manston in Kent, was stopped in his car as he left the docks at Dover with passenger Louis Manning-Chamberlain, 30, from Westgate on Sea, in August 2018.Drugs seized by the NCA. Carter was wearing a hi-vis jacket and presented his security pass, stating he had been working on board a ferry as part of his legitimate industrial cleaning business.
06.05.23 – CPS: Officer who gave material to criminals sentenced. A former Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) employee who passed on highly sensitive material to organised crime groups has been jailed. Rachel Simpson from Newport admitted 29 counts of unauthorised access of a computer system and two counts of misconduct in a public office during an earlier hearing at Cardiff Crown Court. The 39-year-old was a CPS Wales paralegal officer when she accessed the files between 2016 and 2020.
