13.08.24 – Criminals using border workers to get drugs into NZ ‘well on the rise.’ Organised crime groups are targeting border workers with access to systems and restricted areas to allow drug shipments to slip through the border, Customs New Zealand says. A new report made public under the Official Information Act shows the risk of ‘trusted insiders’ is growing as organised criminal gangs expand within New Zealand. Last week, three men were arrested after allegedly importing and distributing nearly 180 kilograms of methamphetamine through a Mexican crime syndicate operating out of central Auckland.
14.08.24 – Drivers of ‘flashy cars’ should be checked for organised crime links, says drug czar. Belgium’s dedicated Drug Commissioner has called for new legal measures to target the leaders of drug gangs, including a clamp down on owners of “flashy cars” and other luxury goods who cannot prove they have a legal income. Speaking on Flemish public radio (De Ochtend), National Drug Commissioner Ine Van Wymersch said that the current legal burden of proof should be reversed if people have a suspiciously large amount of goods compared to their social status.
14.08.24 – Inside the Scottish HQ fighting organised crime For journalists, the Scottish Crime Campus is a place of tantalising secrets waiting to be told. The four-storey building at Gartcosh in Lanarkshire resembles the swish headquarters of a financial company. Inside, men and women chat over lattes in breakout areas scattered around a vast atrium. It’s airy, impressive and a world away from a gritty old cop shop. But behind the corporate good looks, what goes on here is deadly serious. Security is tight and filming severely restricted, in case a confidential document or someone in a sensitive role is caught on camera. All those secrets are kept under wraps until cases go to court and convictions are secured.
14.08.24 – Major drug seizures driving up the price of cocaine as Ireland “is standing up” to organised crime gangs. Major drugs seizures have shown that Ireland “is standing up” to the challenge of disrupting drugs being smuggled by organised crime gangs. There have been three significant seizures in Ireland since Thursday: cocaine valued at €7.2 million at Rosslare Port, cannabis worth more than €16 million, also at Rosslare and cocaine valued at €10.5 million at Dublin Port. More than €103 million worth of drugs have been seized up to the end of June, and drugs worth more than €33 million have been seized in the last number of days.
16.08.24 – Police investigate organised crime funding links to the far right. Police and security services are investigating a possible link between far-right groups in the UK and organised crime gangs who are suspected of helping to finance extremist activities across the country. It is understood that some of the criminal groups at the centre of the investigation are run by former leaders of football hooligan gangs who it is understood now run illegal drug operations in London and around the UK. According to sources, the far-right groups being investigated helped spread misinformation around the tragic killings of three young girls in Southport at the end of July that sparked violent disorder around the country last week.
