27.03.23 – Female Mexican drug Cartel assassins fight in new organised crime phenomenon. Female gangsters are the newest organised crime “phenomenon” gripping Mexico as women assassins are completing hits for drug cartels. Officials in the northern Mexican state of Zacatecas have noticed more and more women becoming embroiled in the shady world of Mexican drug gangs.
27.03.23 – Stolen Millions in EU Funds – The Organised Crime and Corruption Watch, regional edition no1. Recent investigative reporting has shown multiple instances of EU fund fraud in multiple Eastern European countries. For instance Hungary invested €26 million in a state-of-the-art waste treatment facility that mysteriously caught fire. Átlátszó uncovered the story, and recently the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) opened an official investigation looking into potential financial crimes. In Slovakia, criminals defrauded millions from a €1.4 billion Covid relief fund. The EU funds should have helped local companies maintain operations during the pandemic but instead ended up in the bank accounts of secretive offshore companies. And in Romania, a €1 billion EU fund designated to the UNESCO-protected Danube Delta was defrauded by local, politically connected businesses.
29.03.23 – Spanish Guardia Civil intercepts over 3 500 tons of substandard wooden packaging that threatened the spread and infestation of pests. Arrests: 104 individuals arrested. Seizures: 3 500 tons of non-compliant pallets (estimated sale value of EUR 2 000 000) and other packaging that did not meet mandatory legal requirements for their use in international trade and shipment.
31.03.23 – 15 arrested in Brazil over 17 tonnes of cocaine worth billions. On 30 March, simultaneous actions were carried out in Brazil with Europol’s support to dismantle the criminal group that reached from Paraguay to Europe. A total of 15 individuals were arrested, and over EUR 80 million worth of assets were seized. Over the course of the investigation, over 17 tonnes of cocaine linked to this criminal organisation were seized, with an estimated street value of several billions of euros.
02.04.23 – Ecuador President announces emergency in areas hit hard by organised crime. Ecuador has declared a state of emergency in the nation’s major port and other areas reeling from drug-related crime. The decree permits security forces to set up checkpoints and conduct warrantless searches of people and property. Speaking in a televised address to the nation on Saturday, President Guillermo Lasso said he had declared a state of emergency in the port of Guayaquil and the neighbouring districts of Duran and Samborondon, as well as in Santa Elena and Los Rios provinces.
