10.07.24 – MS-13 leader pleads guilty in case involving 8 murders, including deaths of 2 girls on Long Island. A leader of an MS-13 gang clique in New York pleaded guilty Wednesday to racketeering in a case involving eight murders, including the 2016 killings of two high school girls who were hacked and beaten as they strolled through their leafy, suburban neighborhood on Long Island. Alexi Saenz, 29, said little as he entered the plea in federal court in Central Islip. His lawyer read a statement in which Saenz admitted ordering or approving the killings of perceived rivals and people who had disrespected or feuded with members of his clique. Those victims included Kayla Cuevas, 16, and Nisa Mickens, 15, lifelong friends and classmates at Brentwood High School who were killed with a machete and a baseball bat by a group of young men and teenage boys who had stalked them in a car.
10.07.24 – An important step against organised crime: Eurojust signs Working Arrangements with five Latin American countries. To fight the increasing threat of criminal activities globally, Eurojust has signed Working Arrangements with the Prosecution Services of Bolivia, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador and Peru. The new arrangements will make strategic cooperation between these authorities and Eurojust more effective. The prosecutors generals of the five countries and of Panama, which already has a Working Arrangement with Eurojust, attended the signing of the arrangements. 68% of the most threatening criminal networks operate globally, with 36% of these networks engaged in drug trafficking, according to a report from Europol. These networks launder the proceeds from their activities on a global scale, with 32% of networks laundering money in both the EU and abroad. To dismantle these networks, international cooperation is essential. Eurojust supports national authorities in the EU to work together with third countries. The Working Arrangements with Bolivia, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador and Peru will strengthen cooperation in the fight against organised crime and terrorism. A similar Working Arrangement with Panama, signed in January 2024, has already increased the use of Eurojust’s judicial cooperation tools by Panamanian authorities.
10.07.24 – Supreme Court prosecutor orders investigation into organised crime in mykonos and cyclades islands, including lifting of phone privacy. Georgia Adilini, the prosecutor of the Supreme Court, has called for an investigation into organised crime activities on Mykonos, other Cyclades islands, and even in Athens and Thessaloniki. This directive was given to the deputy prosecutor of the Athens Appeals Court, who oversees the Attica Security Directorate in the prosecution of organised crime, and the President of the Council for the Coordination of Analysis and Investigations at the Ministry of Citizen Protection. The catalyst for Adilini’s order was the recent murder of a surveyor in Psychiko.
11.07.24 – Biden administration designates dangerous Venezuelan gang as a transnational criminal organisation. The Biden administration will designate a dangerous Venezuelan gang infiltrating the United States as a significant transnational criminal organization on Thursday, according to a senior administration official, who described the gang as an “emerging threat.” Tren de Aragua, a transnational criminal gang that originated in a Venezuela prison and has slowly made its way south and north in recent years, is raising alarm among US officials. Tren de Aragua adopted its name between 2013 and 2015 but began operations years before, according to a report by Transparency Venezuela. For several years, the criminal group has terrorized South American countries, including Venezuela, Bolivia, Colombia, Chile and Peru, and has gradually made its way into the US.
11,07,24 – Fake blood and stuffed animals: How wildlife forensics could help to convict poachers. A case of a rhino with a bullet hole through its head, a poisoned giraffe and a maimed lion are all crime scenes you might find you might find at the Wildlife Forensics Academy (WFA), an hour’s drive north of Cape Town, South Africa. On a mission to tackle poaching, the WFA recreates wildlife crimes in a warehouse and students and rangers dressed in hazmat suits are taught how to handle the evidence. Across the world, wildlife crimes – including animal trafficking and poaching – are on the rise and are a major threat to the planet’s biodiversity. In Africa, rhinos are a prime target, with around 10,000 lost to poaching in the last decade, the majority in South Africa. Almost 500 rhinos were poached in the country in 2023, with more than 300 from within KwaZulu-Natal province, home to Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park. Yet the province only recorded 49 related arrests and seized just 13 firearms.
