08.02.23 – European Commission looks to step up war on drugs through better police cooperation. The European Commission wants to help EU countries in the fight against drug trafficking by increasing cooperation between domestic police forces. During a trip to the Port of Antwerp on Tuesday, the European Commissioner for Home Affairs, Ylva Johansson, pledged to step up data-sharing and also announced new EU anti-corruption proposals, to be unveiled at the end of April.
08.02.23 – Bali police arrest Italian fugitive wanted on drug charges. Police in Indonesia’s tourist island of Bali have arrested an Italian fugitive wanted on mafia-related drug trafficking charges, Italian authorities said Wednesday. Antonio Strangio, 32, was arrested at Bali’s Ngurah Rai International Airport as he disembarked from a flight from Australia, where he had been living since 2016, carabinieri paramilitary police said. Strangio was wanted for alleged production and trafficking in drugs and was subject of an Interpol “red notice.” He is affiliated with the Strangio clan of San Luca, in the heartland of the Calabrian ’ndrangheta organized crime syndicate, the statement said.
08.02.23 – 28 arrested as Europe’s biggest Chinese prostitution ring is dismantled. On 7 February, some 34 house searches were carried out in Belgium (Brussels, Antwerp and Charleroi) and Spain (Alicante and Barcelona). These actions follow earlier actions against members of this group which led to 7 arrests in Switzerland in May 2022. A total of 28 individuals were arrested (27 in Belgium and one in Spain). Among those arrested in Belgium feature five Chinese nationals considered as high-value targets by Europol due to their involvement in multiple high-profile cases in Europe.
11.02.23 – British organised crime boss arrested in Thailand. A British organised crime boss has been arrested in Thailand after being on the run for five years. Richard Wakeling, 55, from Brentwood, Essex, tried to import £8m of liquid amphetamine into the UK in April 2016. He fled in 2018 before his 12-week trial began and was convicted and sentenced to 11 years in his absence at Chelmsford crown court on 9 April of that year. On Friday, officers from the Royal Thai police arrested the fugitive at a Bangkok garage where he had been collecting his car after repairs.
