05.02.24 – 22-year-old convicted after 70 migrants rescued from the Channel. A man from Sudan has been sentenced to 18 months in jail after a National Crime Agency investigation into people smuggling. Howmalow Mawum-Duop, 22, was identified piloting a large rigid hulled inflatable boat (RHIB) on its interception by UK Border Force off the Kent coast. The vessel was travelling to the United Kingdom from Northern France, near Sangatte, and was carrying over 70 migrants. On the 26 September, in communication with the French authorities and the NCA, Border Force intercepted the boat.
05.02.24 – 4 bus and taxi drivers shot to death in violent southern Mexico city. Four bus and taxi drivers were killed Monday following apparently coordinated attacks by gunmen in the city of Chilpancingo, the capital of the southern Pacific coast state of Guerrero. Drug gangs battling for control in the state have long been known to kill people for not paying “protection” fees, including drivers. In January, drivers in Acapulco and in the colonial city of Taxco staged strikes to protest the killings of their colleagues. State prosecutors said they are investigating the killings Monday on streets and roads around Chilpancingo, and have received reinforcements from the army and National Guard.
06.02.24 – Major blow to Albanian drug trafficking network: 59 arrests across Europe. Italian and Albanian authorities have taken decisive action against a major drug trafficking network operating from both countries. With the support of Eurojust and Europol in a large-scale operation, 59 suspects were arrested on 5-6 February, including in Albania, Italy, Germany and the United Kingdom, and 10 suspects were subjected to other precautionary measures in Italy. The network mainly smuggled heroin, cocaine, hashish and marijuana into Germany and Spain using cars with double bottoms or secret compartments. Last year, 21 suspects were arrested in a first operation against the same Albanian-led organised crime group (OCG). That operation also led to the seizure of drugs worth an estimated EUR 2.7 million.
08.02.24 – NCA makes two more arrests in Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire over £2.3m Channel Tunnel cocaine seizure. National Crime Agency officers have arrested two men in Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire in connection with the attempted importation of cocaine with an estimated street value of £2.3 million. The drugs were discovered in a car being driven through the Channel Tunnel terminal in Coquelles, France, on its way to the UK in September 2023. Border Force officers recovered 78 kilos of drugs from a specially constructed hide under the driver’s seat.
08.02.24 – EUR 1 million in assets seized in hit against ID forgers. On 7 February, Europol supported the Italian Carabinieri Corps (Arma dei Carabinieri) and the Malta Police Force (Pulizija) in an operation against a criminal network involved in the facilitation of illegal immigration, document fraud and currency counterfeiting. The action day led to nine arrests in Naples, Italy, and the dismantling of seven counterfeiting print shops. The seizures include hundreds of false identification documents, forgery equipment and materials as well as other assets, together worth a total value of about EUR 1 million.
