21.02.24 – Over 100 searches and 4 arrests in France, Germany, Italy, Latvia and Malta against financial institution involved in money laundering. National authorities in France, Germany, Italy, Latvia and Malta have carried out over 100 searches in a large-scale operation against a Russian-Eurasian criminal network and a Maltese-based financial institution allegedly involved in money-laundering services. Four suspects were detained during an action day supported by Europol and Eurojust. Potential suspects and witnesses were also interviewed in Estonia, Germany, Latvia and Malta.
22.02.24 – Five High Value Targets arrested as one of the largest networks smuggling migrants across the English Channel halted. A large-scale operation involving law enforcement and judicial authorities from Belgium, France and Germany, coordinated by Europol and Eurojust, led to the dismantling of one of the most active networks involved in the smuggling of migrants across the English Channel in small boats. The investigation focused on an Iraqi-Kurdish network suspected of smuggling Middle Eastern and East African irregular migrants from France to the UK with the use of low quality inflatable boats.
22.02.24 – Japanese mafia boss conspired to traffic nuclear materials, says US. US prosecutors have charged an alleged member of the Japanese mafia with conspiring to traffic nuclear materials. Takeshi Ebisawa, 60, tried to sell uranium and plutonium that he believed would be transferred to Iran to build a nuclear bomb, it is alleged. Mr Ebisawa and a Thai co-defendant were previously hit with weapons and drug charges in April 2022. He faces life imprisonment if convicted of the latest charges.
22.02.24 – ‘Little dark secret’: DEA agent on trial accused of taking $250K in bribes from Mafia. The way prosecutors tell it, Joseph Bongiovanni went to work for years with a “little dark secret.” Behind the veneer of a veteran U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent, they alleged, was a turncoat on the take from the Buffalo Mafia, offering an “umbrella of protection” that derailed investigations of his childhood friends, covered for a sex-trafficking strip club and even helped a connected high school English teacher keep his marijuana-growing side hustle.
24.02.24 – Crime openly organised from prison. The ‘job’ was ordered on video call within the prison cell. A Supreme Court decision to quash an arrest warrant has brought to light the extent of organised crime within Cyprus’ central prisons. Details of the case, published on Saturday, detail a prisoner carrying out a video call and openly ordering the person on the other end to carry out a crime. This was all done within the prison cell at around 2am on January 31.
