06.05.24 – Law enforcement dismantle cocaine lab in Spain with 100 kg monthly capacity. On 30 April, the Spanish Civil Guard (Guardia Civil) arrested 20 suspects after dismantling a cocaine laboratory capable of producing 100 kilograms of the drug each month. A number of those arrested were considered by law enforcement as High Value Targets for their involvement in multiple drug trafficking cases. Officers from the Guardia Civil, working together with Europol and the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), seized 21 drums of liquid and solid chemicals used to extract and process cocaine after discovering the laboratory near Madrid. The operation, which included searches of 27 properties in the provinces of Pontevedra, A Coruña and Madrid, also led to the seizure of EUR 3 million in cash. An additional EUR 10 million worth of assets were seized, such as luxurious houses, vehicles and recreational vessels.
07.05.24 – US and allies accuse Russian man of running ransomware gang that extorted hundreds of millions of dollars from victims. US, UK and Australian authorities on Tuesday announced sanctions and criminal charges against a 31-year-old Russian man for being the alleged mastermind of a cybercriminal group that has extorted $500 million in ransom payments from thousands of victim organizations in the US and worldwide. Dmitry Yuryevich Khoroshev is accused of developing malicious software, recruiting hackers and overseeing operations for a crime group known as LockBit that has been described by experts as the most prolific ransomware gang in the world.
07.05.24 – Two-fifths of organised crime networks launder money through property. Organised crime is one of the biggest economic crime threats in the UK and Europe. New Europol research shows 41% of the most threatening criminal networks launder through property and 86% make use of legal business structures. Europol’s research focuses on identifying the characteristics of the criminal networks that pose the highest threat. These were identified through analysis of 821 high-risk networks involving 25,000 individuals, selected based on criteria around the threat they pose. These networks are active in a range of crime areas, from drug trafficking to migrant smuggling, property crime and others. The threat posed by these networks is pervasive and complex which needs for a concerted, sustained, multilateral response and joint cooperation.
09.05.24 – Huyton Firm: Brutal organised crime group brought down by its own text messages. More than 30 serious criminals have been jailed after police cracked their encrypted text messages and uncovered a violent feud over stolen drugs. Crime bosses in the Huyton Firm had planned to murder the men they thought had taken more than £1m of cocaine from them. After a successful challenge in court, BBC Panorama obtained 10,000 of the firm’s messages. They reveal plans for brutal violence, including a hand-grenade attack. 12.05.24 – Swedish man with alleged ‘ties to organised crime’ loses €600,000 CAB case. A Swedish man alleged to have links to organised crime has failed in his bid to stop the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) from transferring more than €600,000 to the State. The bureau seized the money more than a decade ago, claiming it was the proceeds of a credit card scam dating back to 2002. However, Harry Zeman, a director of the Swedish company allegedly behind the scam, Routeback Media, took a legal challenge to prevent the funds being transferred to the State. The Court of Appeal rejected his appeal in a judgment delivered on Friday, ending one of CAB’s longest-running and most-litigated cases. CAB has claimed Mr Zeman was known to have “ties to organised crime” and had convictions in Sweden for drug-dealing. He had denied links to organised crime and claimed the funds were the proceeds of legitimate business.
