Nov 30 2024
Police in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, and Serbia arrested 11 people. They are suspected of smuggling more than half a tonne of cocaine from South America into the European Union. In March 2021, authorities seized cocaine concealed in the modified floor of a cargo container at the Croatian port of Ploče. The shipment’s street value …
Nov 30 2024
The operation, codenamed Admiral 2.0, mobilized over 600 law enforcement officers in raids across 16 countries. Preliminary estimates point to an additional €297 million ($313.93 million) in VAT losses linked to the previously discovered scheme. The fraudulent network, primarily based in the Baltics, mirrored techniques exposed in the original operation, launched in 2022. That operation …
Nov 30 2024
International police operation shuts down one of the world’s largest illegal online streaming services. It is estimated that the service caused 10 billion euros ($10.55 billion) in annual financial damages. The pirated streaming service was run by a transnational, hierarchical organization that illegally captured and resold content from major streaming platforms. The stolen content included …
Nov 29 2024
The November 20 operation mobilized more than 450 officers across Europe. 25 arrests were made in Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Germany, Poland, Serbia, and the UK. Among those arrested were three high-value targets, including an Iraqi citizen accused of heading a linked smuggling ring. According to Europol, migrants paid between 4,500 euros ($4,715) and 12,000 …
Nov 29 2024
Tuvalu’s High Commission in Fiji agreed on May 2 to purchase three adjoining lots of land for FJ$ 5.8 million ($2.7 million) in the Raiwai area of Fiji’s capital, Suva. The sale was signed just over a month after OCCRP revealed that Australia had designated Chinese businessman Zhao as one of its top international criminal …
Nov 29 2024
The Gulf Cartel has expanded into illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing to fund its broader criminal enterprises. The cartel uses “lancha” boats to illegally harvest shark and red snapper from U.S. waters. The sanctions mark a significant action against the cartel, which is better known for its violent drug trafficking. The move is aimed …
Nov 29 2024
The camp, located near the Belarusian-Ukrainian border in the small town of Naroulia, operated in a former industrial complex during the spring of 2022. Witnesses described overcrowded conditions, insufficient food, and inadequate sanitation. Ukrainian men accused of resisting Russian occupation were reportedly interrogated and mistreated by Russian military personnel. One former detainee recounted beatings and …
Nov 28 2024
More than $99 million was spent on contracts that were incomplete or not delivered, violating rules that bar payments for undelivered services. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), and the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Company (NBET) were among the entities identified as having irregularities in their financial practices. A separate …
Nov 28 2024
Law enforcement in Bosnia and Herzegovina on Tuesday conducted searches across the country. One person suspected of heading an organized crime group that shipped large quantities of cocaine from South America to Europe via the Balkans. The operation, conducted under the auspices of Europol, spanned Bosnia, Croatia, and Serbia and targeted suspects who used maritime …
Nov 28 2024
Nigeria is Africa’s leading hotspot, accounting for 5.91 percent of the region’s fraud activity. Globally, fraud rates surged across all regions in 2024. The Middle East experienced the most dramatic increase, with cases skyrocketing by 643 percent, followed by Africa at 393 percent and Latin America and the Caribbean at 255 percent. The report highlights …