- 14 people were arrested in San Matías, a Bolivian city located near the Brazilian border. The arrests took place during an operation conducted by the Bolivian security forces to take control over the city after they were chased from it in June. The city is described as a “crime hotspot” for both Brazilian and Bolivian narcotraffickers given the weakness of borders control and local institutions.
- The Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime together with INTERPOL, RHIPTO and the Norwegian Centre for Global Analyses have reported to the UN Security Council that Transnational Organised Crime (TOC) is making a profit of about $31.5 billion per year in conflict areas. According to the experts, the traditional traffic routes are now being used by non-state actors and terrorist groups to fund their activities, thus increasing the need to tackle TOC in conflict zones.
- The Eastern Regional Director of the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) has been suspended by the Ghanaian government after having requested it to prosecute the corrupted officials amongst the authorities. The National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the Convention People’s Party (CPP) are calling upon the Ghanaian President Akufo-Addo to liberate the EOCO Eastern Regional Director and to start investigating corruption-related matters in the country.
- Transparency Venezuela has issued a report highlighting the lack of efficiency of the judicial system and connecting it to the increasing activities of organised crime and narcotrafficking in Venezuela. According to the report, the mandates of Hugo Chávez and Nicolás Maduro, who are representing over 20 years of the country’s political life cumulatively, have contributed in exacerbating the state’s corruption.
- The Guatemalan representative of the Central American Parliament (Parlacen) is connected to members of the Huistas criminal organisation which operates on the border with Mexico. The findings of the investigation, which was ongoing for five years, further demonstrate the ties of criminal groups with the political elites of Latin America.
