Category Archives: Organised crime

Benedetto Santapaola, notorious Italian mafia boss, dies in prison aged 87

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Cosa Nostra leader, who controlled most of eastern Sicily, dies while serving multiple life sentences for murder

Benedetto “Nitto” Santapaola, a Sicilian mafia boss and one of the most dangerous figures in Italian criminal history, has died aged 87.

Santapaola, who was widely believed to have been the architect of a campaign of bloodshed that scarred Italy in the 1980s and 1990s, died on Monday in a Milan prison where he was serving multiple life sentences. An autopsy has been ordered.

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Destitute survivors of south-east Asia’s cyberscam farms an ‘international crisis’

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Not enough support for freed victims, say aid agencies, with growing numbers sleeping on the streets, unable to travel home without passports or money

Charities and aid workers have called for urgent international government support for victims of south-east Asia’s deadly scam compounds, following a damning report by Amnesty International.

The numbers of survivors of cyberscam “farms” left destitute and abandoned on the city streets of Cambodia and Myanmar is an “international crisis”, according to the research published in January.

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Fears Quebec Starbucks gang shooting could signal shift to brazen tactics

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Local media named victim as Charalambos Theologou, shot as groups vie for power after arrests of alleged mafia bosses

The brazen daylight killing of a prominent Quebec gang leader inside a suburban Starbucks in the outskirts of Montreal this week could signal a new, more chaotic and brash environment when it comes to organised crime, observers say.

The arrests of alleged senior, older members of Montreal’s mafia in June has potentially left a chasm – meaning newer, younger gangs are attempting to gain a foothold.

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Leader in Kinahan drug gang extradited to Ireland from UAE

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Sean McGovern, wanted on charges of murder and directing organised crime, flown to Ireland in military aircraft

A leader of the notorious Kinahan organised crime group has been flown from the United Arab Emirates to Ireland in the first extradition of its kind.

An Irish military aircraft carrying Sean McGovern – who is wanted on charges of murder and directing organised crime – was due to land in Dublin amid heavy security on Thursday afternoon.

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The São Paulo connection: a Brazilian gang is spreading its cocaine business into Australia

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The PCC – First Capital Command – formed in a Sāo Paulo prison but is now spreading its tentacles around the world

In September 2020, the Australian Border Force intercepted 552kg of cocaine concealed in 2,000 boxes of frozen banana pulp that had arrived at the port of Sydney on a ship from Brazil.

Two years later, a diver was found floating dead next to 52kg of cocaine near the port of Newcastle, in New South Wales, Australia. Police later discovered that he was a Brazilian national who had been attempting to retrieve drugs from a cargo ship’s hull.

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French fugitive whose escape left two officers dead extradited from Romania

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Mohamed Amra’s arrest ends nine-month manhunt when armed assailants ambushed prison convoy in Normandy

A notorious French fugitive who staged a deadly escape that killed two guards last year has been extradited from Romania to France, days after his arrest in Bucharest ended a nine-month international manhunt.

Mohamed Amra, nicknamed “The Fly”, was arrested near a shopping centre in Bucharest on Saturday after being identified by Romanian police, despite having dyed his hair red, possibly to evade detection. The Bucharest court of appeal approved his extradition request on Sunday.

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Mexican president blasts US for harboring drug cartels

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Claudia Sheinbaum gives riposte to Trump’s accusation of ‘intolerable alliance’ between Mexican government and gangs

Mexico’s president has accused the US of harboring drug cartels and American citizens of working with organized crime groups in Mexico, in a riposte to Donald Trump’s allegation of an “intolerable alliance” between traffickers and her government.

“There is also organized crime in the United States and there are American people who come to Mexico with these illegal activities,” Claudia Sheinbaum said during her morning press conference on Thursday. “Otherwise who would distribute fentanyl in the cities of the United States?”

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Trump’s claim that Mexican cartels and government are allied is not reality

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Corruption in Mexico is a problem, experts say, but any claim the two are linked shows a lack of comprehension

Mexico breathed a sigh of relief this week when Donald Trump delayed his threatened tariffs by a month, apparently swerving away from an economic crisis at the last moment.

But one aspect of the spat still rankles: the Trump administration’s vague but shocking accusation of an “intolerable alliance” between Mexico’s government and organised crime.

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Severed horse head found at Sicilian property, in echo of Godfather scene

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Local authorities think head discovered at businessman’s property may be part of mafia intimidation tactic

A severed horse’s head has been discovered at the property of a Sicilian businessman, in what local authorities believe may be a mafia intimidation tactic reminiscent of a scene from The Godfather.

The animal’s head was left on the seat of a digger owned by the man, a construction contractor in Altofonte, near the Sicilian capital, Palermo. The remains of a pregnant cow and its calf were also found at the site.

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South Korean police arrest 215 people in suspected $228m crypto scam

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Alleged criminal ring is the biggest cryptocurrency investment scam in country’s history, according to police

South Korean police have arrested 215 people on suspicion of stealing 320 billion won ($228.4m) in the biggest cryptocurrency investment scam in the country.

Gyeonggi Nambu provincial police said on Wednesday that the arrests included the alleged mastermind of the organised crime group accused of selling 28 types of virtual tokens to about 15,000 people by promising high returns. Referred to as Mr A, he had fled to Australia but was arrested and extradited. Police have confiscated 22 Bitcoin from his accounts and have applied to seize some $34m more. Just 12 people of the 215 remain in custody, according to Yonhap.

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Stray bullets and closed schools: Rio’s kids suffer as police crack down on gangs

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Thousands of schoolchildren in Rio de Janeiro’s favelas miss classes and risk violence as Brazil’s police battle drug gangs

Textbooks and marker pens are not all that science teacher Roberto Brandão, 54, takes with him each morning when he sets off for work in a school in one of Rio de Janeiro’s largest favelas. He also carries a first-aid kit in case he or any of his students is hit by a bullet.

“I always have it in my backpack because I could be shot at any time,” he said, displaying the red waterproof bag after attending a seminar on how police operations are affecting children’s learning in Maré.

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Bandits kill at least 11 Pakistani police officers in ambush in Punjab province

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Attack on patrol in the Rahim Yar Khan district that was targeting robbers also left seven wounded

Gunmen armed with rocket-propelled grenades have ambushed a police convoy in eastern Punjab province, killing at least 11 officers and wounding seven others, authorities said.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack on Thursday in the Rahim Yar Khan district. The officers were ambushed while on patrol in a deserted area in search of robbers who operate in the region.

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Home secretary to recruit 100 specialists to target people-smuggling gangs

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Yvette Cooper also plans to increase deportations for refused asylum seekers as part of illegal migration clampdown

The home secretary has announced plans to recruit 100 investigators and intelligence officers to target people-smuggling gangs as part of measures to clampdown on illegal migration.

Yvette Cooper said that the National Crime Agency (NCA) will find specialists to dismantle and disrupt organised immigration crime networks that exploit asylum seekers.

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Drug smugglers targeting Oslo as gateway into Europe

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Mayor of Norwegian capital, Anne Lindboe, says drugs worth up to £570m have entered through the port

The mayor of Oslo has warned that drug smugglers are increasingly targeting the Norwegian capital as a gateway to Europe as authorities tighten controls on major ports such as Antwerp.

Oslo’s mayor, Anne Lindboe, said drugs worth up to £570m have been smuggled through Norway’s largest port, which receives 50-70 ships and 243,000 containers every week.

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Revealed: drug cartels force migrant children to work as foot soldiers in Europe’s booming cocaine trade

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Exclusive: Guardian investigation shows white powder trail linking hundreds of vulnerable African minors with ruthless gangs

Hundreds of unaccompanied child migrants across Europe are being forced to work as soldiers for increasingly powerful drug cartels to meet the continent’s soaring appetite for cocaine, a Guardian investigation has found.

EU police forces have warned of industrial-scale exploitation of African children by cocaine networks operating in western Europe in cities including Paris and Brussels as they seek to expand Europe’s £10bn cocaine market.

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Olive oil becomes most wanted item for shoplifters in Spain

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Gangs steal ‘liquid gold’ amid shortages and surging prices after extreme weather damages harvests

Olive oil has become the most stolen product in supermarkets across Spain, with organised criminal gangs targeting the “liquid gold” to resell on the hidden market, according to new figures.

Olive oil is now the most shoplifted product in regions that account for 70% of the country’s population, the Financial Times reports.

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Rotterdam mayor calls for end to lax stance on middle-class drug use

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Europe has been ‘negligent,’ as an acceptance of cocaine and cannabis leads to corruption, violence, and misery, says Aboutaleb

The mayor of a city on the frontline of the illegal drug trade has said that a “negligent” attitude to recreational drug use, including an acceptance of cocaine as the middle-class narcotic of choice, has led to violence and corruption in Europe’s poorest neighbourhoods.

As the Netherlands digests three life sentences handed out in the criminal trial of drug baron Ridouan Taghi and his “well-oiled murder machine” gang, Ahmed Aboutaleb, mayor of Rotterdam, has demanded authorities take a tougher line on cocaine use.

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‘Meloni’s response left me stunned’: the Italian priest taking on the mafia

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Maurizio Patriciello has had police protection since a bombing near his church in Caivano, Naples, but he vows to keep fighting crime

Father Maurizio Patriciello is running late. “I’m waiting for my bodyguards,” he says by text message.

He is neither a celebrity nor a politician but a parish priest in Caivano, a desolate, crime-ridden town on the outskirts of Naples. He has been living under police protection ever since a bomb, accompanied by the message “get out of our way”, exploded by the gate of his church.

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Clash between criminal gang and villagers leaves 14 dead in central Mexico

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Video of fight shows villagers with sickles and rifles chasing down suspected gang members amid gunfire

A clash between gunmen from a criminal gang and residents of a small farming community in central Mexico left 14 people dead and seven injured, local authorities said on Saturday.

Dramatic video of the fight on Friday posted on social media showed villagers in cowboy hats with sickles and hunting rifles chasing down suspected gang members amid bursts of automatic gunfire.

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Police still victim blaming in grooming gang cases, watchdog finds

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Inspection in England and Wales criticises pace of change since child abuse scandals in Rotherham and Rochdale came to light

Police are still blaming child victims of sexual grooming gangs for the attacks they suffer, an official report has found.

The inquiry by HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) comes more than a decade after scandals in Rotherham and Rochdale came to light, revealing failings by the authorities that left gangs of men free to attack vulnerable young girls.

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