02.10.23 – Key member of organised crime group jailed for 19 years for £1million cocaine supply network. A key member of an organised crime group has been jailed for almost 20 years for his role in helping to supply and source more than £1 million worth of cocaine. Drug dealer David Borley came to light as part of Operation Venetic, an international investigation which saw law enforcement infiltrate encrypted devices. Through this, it was established that Borley belonged to a network which had supplied more than 29kgs of cocaine worth £1.2 million pounds between April and June 2020.
03.10.23 – The place where lime is escorted by the police. The price of the fruit rose more than 58% in the last year in Mexico. Two abandoned plots stand out among gigantic lime and banana crops in Apatzingán, Mexico. Its owners were preparing the land to plant, but preferred to leave when organized crime gangs came to extort them. Michoacan, the most affected region in Mexico is controlled by the Cártel Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG), and criminal gangs such as Los Viagras and La Familia Michoacana. In addition to drug trafficking, criminals impose quotas on producers and intermediaries that hit the pockets of millions of consumers. They also fight over a land tax they force producers to pay. It is the equivalent of $0.11 (€0.10) for each kilo they sell. The region can produce about 900 tonnes of limes a day.
04.10.23 – Finland busts major drug ring linked to Swedish organised crime gangs. Police in Finland busted a major drug-smuggling operation linked to Swedish organised crime and arrested 30 people including Iraqi, Turkish and British citizens. Authorities seized about 100kg of illicit drugs and €240,000 ($252,000) in cash, after several months of intelligence gathering. Investigators said the group had used lorries to transport more than 300kg of cocaine, amphetamines, ecstasy pills and cannabis into Finland.
06.10.23 – One of Europe’s most wanted drug traffickers behind bars and 16 arrested in Brazil. A total of 16 suspects have been arrested this week in a major international operation against an organised crime group trafficking cocaine between Brazil and Europe. The gang’s ringleader, a Serbian national residing in Brazil, features among those arrested. The investigation, carried out in the framework of Europol’s Operational Taskforce (OTF) ‘Balkan Cartel’, was a collaborative effort between law enforcement authorities on either side of the Atlantic Ocean. Over the last year and a half, the involved authorities worked tirelessly together to gather intelligence and coordinate the operational activities. The targeted criminal group, known for its elaborate network spanning both sides of the Atlantic, was involved in the large-scale trafficking of cocaine from South America to various European destinations.
07.10.23 – NCA investigation launched after drugs found off south coast of England. The National Crime Agency has begun an investigation following the recovery of a significant quantity of what is thought to be cocaine from the coast of Dorset and Hampshire. Holdalls containing hundreds of kilos of powder were discovered in the sea off the St Aldhelm’s point and Durdle Door areas in Purbeck. And earlier today a further quantity washed up on a beach on the Isle of Wight.
