10.01.24 – Ecuador declares war on armed gangs after TV station attacked on air. Ecuador’s president has ordered that criminal gangs be “neutralised” after days of violence culminated in an attack on a television studio.Masked gunmen broke into public television channel TC’s live studio during a broadcast, forcing staff to the floor. Police made 13 arrests following the attack, which injured two employees. At least 10 people have been killed since a 60-day state of emergency began in Ecuador on Monday.
10.01.24 – Antwerp Port sees drop in cargo as organised crime presents key challenge. The Port of Antwerp-Bruges saw its cargo handling decrease 5.5% from 2022 to 2023. Organised crime is considered the preeminent challenge facing the port, which is central to the economy of Flanders and European supply chains. The complex geopolitical and economic context already seen in the first quarter of 2023 continued to drive a drop in cargo handling at the port. The total cargo throughput was 271 million tonnes – 5.5% less than in 2022. It is a long time since total cargo handling has fallen.
11.01.24 – Arms Trafficking Case Puts Europe-Paraguay Pipeline on the Map. Thousands of weapons trafficked from Europe and Turkey with the help of corrupt officials and later seized in Brazil has put a spotlight on the extensive market for illegal firearms in Paraguay. A joint-operation carried out by Brazilian, Paraguayan, and US authorities at the start of December 2023, dubbed “Operation Dakovo,” uncovered the transnational arms trafficking scheme to Brazil with the help of Paraguay’s Directorate of War Material (Dirección de Material Bélico – Dimabel). The operation revealed that a Paraguayan company named International Auto Supply (IAS) imported more than 45,000 weapons into the South American nation between 2014 and 2023. Of those, at least 25,000 were then sold to two of Brazil’s most powerful criminal groups, the First Capital Command (Primer Comando da Capital – PCC) and Red Command (Comando Vermelho – CV), according to Paraguay’s anti-drug force (Secretaría Nacional Antidrogas – SENAD).
11.01.24 – Turkish police arrest organised crime suspects wanted by Interpol. Turkish authorities in Istanbul held 10 suspects wanted by Interpol on charges related to organised crime, the country’s interior minister has announced. “Ten people wanted by six countries with Interpol red notices were arrested in Istanbul in the ‘CAGE-30’ Operation,” Ali Yerlikaya said on X on Thursday. Vowing to continue fighting international organised crime and drug traffickers, Yerlikaya said red notices against the suspects had been filed by Iran, South Korea, Syria, China, Uzbekistan, and Switzerland.
11.01.24 – Husband and wife arrested over alleged airline crew smuggling plot. A couple have been arrested as part of a National Crime Agency investigation into cash smuggling and corruption involving airline employees. The man, aged 49, and his wife, aged 53, were detained on suspicion of money laundering at their home address in Puttenham, near Guildford, Surrey, yesterday morning (10 January). Around £15,000 cash was seized under the Proceeds of Crime Act following searches of the property, along with high value items worth an estimated £150,000. The pair are suspected of using airline staff to smuggle criminal cash and other high value items out of the UK via Heathrow Airport.
12.01.24 – Cryptojacker arrested in Ukraine over EUR 1.8 million mining scheme. The National Police of Ukraine (Національна поліція України), with the support of Europol, has arrested an individual believed to be the mastermind behind a sophisticated cryptojacking scheme. The 29-year-old individual was apprehended in Mykolaiv, Ukraine, on 9 January. Three properties were searched to gather evidence against the main suspect. The arrest comes after months of intensive collaboration between Ukrainian authorities, Europol and a cloud provider, who worked tirelessly to identify and locate the individual behind the widespread cryptojacking operation. The suspect is believed to have mined over USD 2 million (EUR 1.8 million) in cryptocurrencies.
