24.07.23 – Montenegro’s former police director detained over abuse of office, organized crime charges. Podgorica, 24 July 2023, dtt-net.com – Three people, including the former director of police of Montenegro, were detained today by local police on charges of abuse of office, organized crime and smuggling, country’s interior ministry said.
24.07.23 – Mayor of Ecuador port city slain in shooting that kills 1 other, wounds 4. QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — The mayor of Ecuador’s third largest city was slain Sunday in a shooting that killed one other person and wounded four more, including two suspected attackers, officials said. Agustín Intriago, a 38-year-old lawyer, belonged to the local Better City movement in the port city of Manta and was recently re-elected to a term that began in May. On his Twitter account, Interior Minister Juan Zapata reported Intriago’s slaying and the other casualties. He said the two wounded people suspected of being involved in the attack were receiving medical attention under police surveillance.
24.07.23 – Spanish authorities seized significant quantities of cannabis resin destined for Brazil. The Surveillance Services of the Spanish Customs (DAVA) recently conducted a maritime operation approximately 150nm south of the Canary Islands, which resulted in the seizure of over 6000kg of cannabis resin on board a sailing vessel. The sailboat departed from southern Portugal towards the west coast of Morocco, where it may have loaded the illicit cargo believed to be destined for Brazil. After the interception and boarding by the Spanish authorities, the vessel has been towed to the port of Arguineguín (Gran Canaria), where the two crew members were present to the competent authorities. This seizure represents a further indicator of the increase in the trafficking of Moroccan “hashish” towards Brazil, where according to information shared by the MAOC-N partners at least since 2020, European and Brazilian criminal organisations could be exchanging directly cannabis resin for cocaine.
24.07.23 – 62 transcontinental migrant smugglers arrested. Law enforcement from five countries have disrupted an intercontinental criminal network smuggling migrants from Cuba to the European Union. The investigation, coordinated by Europol and INTERPOL, led to the arrest of 62 persons, 25 of which were Cuban nationals. Members of the migrant smuggling network used a well-known messaging application to advertise their illicit services to Cuban clients in vulnerable situations. For a payment of around EUR 9 000, they would organise the trip, transfers, and provide false documentation. The criminals flew in persons from Cuba to Serbia, taking advantage of the lack of visa requirements to enter Serbia at the time. Migrants would then be smuggled to Greece, from where they flew into Spain. In total, it is suspected that the criminal network successfully smuggled around 5 000 Cuban nationals into the EU, generating a profit of around EUR 45 million.
27.07.23 – Wanted: Money launderer who ran professional services for organised crime groups. A man from Surrey convicted for running schemes to help criminals launder their cash is wanted by the National Crime Agency after he failed to turn up to a sentencing hearing. LML custody Lenn Mayhew-Lewis, a 68-year-old Jamaican national from Oxted, Surrey, played a leading role laundering money for organised criminals and was arrested in July 2020. He offered services that helped criminals blur the origins of their cash by using multiple companies to filter payments, and eventually pay them an income that would appear legitimate to outsiders.
