Crime

Europol Operation Blocks €1.2 Billion in Fake Banknotes, With China-Linked Shipments Under Scrutiny

Law enforcement authorities from 18 countries have stopped an estimated EUR 1.2 billion in counterfeit banknotes and coins from entering circulation during Operation DECOY III, a Europol-coordinated action led by…

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Italian police to get new arrest powers

Italian police will be able to detain suspected troublemakers temporarily before street rallies to prevent them from spreading unrest under a new law-and-order decree adopted on Thursday by Prime Minister…

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Sweden aims to lower age of criminal responsibility to 13

Sweden is moving forward with plans to lower the age of criminal responsibility from 15 to 13 in serious cases as it grapples with a growing number of children recruited…

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Italy Delays New Security Law as Disputes Focus on Knives and Youth Crime

Italy’s government is taking more time to finalise a new national security decree, as internal disagreements persist over how tough the measures should be, particularly on knife crime and offences…

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Sweden wants to strip organised crime leaders of citizenship

The Swedish government on Friday proposed changes to the constitution that would allow revoking the citizenship of some criminal gang leaders, as part of its work to combat widespread organised…

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Antwerp Judge Decries Belgium’s Slide Toward Narco-State Status

Drug-trafficking is turning Belgium into a narco-state and the rule of law is under threat, an Antwerp judge wrote in an anonymous letter published Monday asking the federal government for…

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Luxury hybrid car thieves taken down in Belgium, Italy and Spain

A highly specialised organised crime network responsible for the theft of more than 100 luxury hybrid cars has been dismantled in an international operation led by the Italian Carabinieri with…

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Italy Police Break Up Illegal Streaming Network; Eight Held

Italian police placed eight people under house arrest Friday in a Catania-led investigation into an alleged criminal network accused of running the country’s largest illegal streaming service. Prosecutors said the…

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From Valletta to Vienna: The EU’s Safest and Riskiest Cities for Gun Crime

This report, compiled by Euronews, examines the latest data on gun crime across the European Union, comparing which countries and capitals — including Valletta — rank among the safest and…

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New routes and concealment methods identified in cocaine crackdowns in Spain

Europol supported Portuguese and Spanish authorities in two major investigations against cocaine trafficking involving law enforcement on both sides of the Atlantic. These operations exemplified a shifting landscape of global…

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Sweden to lower age of criminal responsibility

Sweden will lower the age of criminal responsibility from the current 15, Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said, following an increase in cases of crime gangs recruiting children via social media…

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Millions in Forged Banknotes Confiscated in Global Operation

Europol has supported a joint law enforcement operation that disrupted the distribution of counterfeit currency through postal services. The action resulted in the interception of nearly one million items, including…

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Polish police bust smuggling networks and seize drugs worth $275 million

Polish police said on Tuesday they had dismantled a number of interlinked drug smuggling networks that operated across Europe, seizing narcotics worth 1 billion zlotys ($275 million). The core of…

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France: Cities Impose Nighttime Restrictions on Minors Following Crime Surge

A number of French cities have imposed night-time curfews on young people following a spate of violence linked to drug trafficking. Nîmes in the south was the latest to bring…

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Italy may release up 10,000 people from prison to ease overcrowding

Italy may release up to around 10,000 people from prison, or about 15% of the total population of inmates, to ease overcrowding, the Justice Ministry has announced. Some 10,105 prisoners…

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Spanish operation against migrant smuggling and drug trafficking across the Mediterranean

Europol has supported Spanish authorities (Policía Nacional) in a transnational operation against a highly-organised network involved in both migrant smuggling and drug trafficking between Spain and Morocco. Authorities believe the…

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Italy cracks down on protests, squatters and cannabis

Italy's upper house of parliament on Wednesday gave final approval to a wide-ranging security decree that targets public protests, pickpockets and squatters, and outlaws so-called "legal" cannabis. The measures, spearheaded…

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Heroin kingpin arrested after 703 kilos of heroin found in soap shipment

An international law enforcement operation supported by Europol has led to the arrest of a suspected heroin trafficker running a criminal network stretching from Iran to Western Europe. The investigation…

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Firearms trafficker supplying contract killers arrested in cross-border operation

Europol has just revealed that it coordinated a successful operation, led by law enforcement from Poland, that resulted in the arrest of a firearms trafficker supplying weapons to criminals across…

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Spanish police bust gang that recruited Swedish and Danish minors as hitmen

Spanish police have dismantled a gang based in the eastern city of Alicante that allegedly recruited Swedish and Danish teenagers to carry out murders as hitmen. Police said on Wednesday…

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Milan, Rome and Florence least safe Italian cities

Milan, Rome and Florence, in that order, are the least safe Italian cities amid a rise in crime, according to an annual crime report from business daily Il Sole 24…

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Denmark and Sweden Pledge to Hunt Down Gang Leaders Who Recruit Child Assassins from Abroad

The Danish and Swedish justice ministers vowed to go after organized crime leaders abroad, whom they say have been hiring teenagers in Sweden to carry out deadly shootings in Denmark.…

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Greece dismantles gang trafficking drugs from Europe to Israel on yachts

Greece, with assistance from Israel, has arrested eight foreign nationals, dismantling a criminal ring that used yachts to traffic drugs from Europe to Israel, police said. The suspects, mainly from…

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02

Aug

Coordinated crackdown on high-profile Albanian criminal network

The Albanian authorities, in cooperation with Europol and Belgian, Dutch and French law enforcement, have successfully concluded a major operation, arresting 15 suspected members of a notorious Albanian organised crime…

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Main European ports targeted in ant-drug operation

Europol has supported the German Criminal Police (LKA Baden Wuttemberg) and German Customs (ZFA Stuttgart and ZOLL Karlsruhe) in dismantling a criminal organisation smuggling large quantities of cocaine in containers…

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Greece dismantles gang trafficking drugs from Latin America to Europe

Greek authorities have dismantled an international criminal group trafficking cocaine in shipping containers from Latin America to Europe, police said on Thursday. Two Albanians and two Greeks were arrested after…

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Italy police find drug dealers testing remote-controlled sub

Italian police on Tuesday said they had uncovered a gang of drug dealers testing a remote-controlled submarine which they were most likely planning to use for smuggling. The organisation was…

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Germany arrests suspected members of Nigerian dating mafia

German police on Wednesday announced that eleven suspected members of a criminal syndicate from Nigeria, the Black Axe, were arrested during nationwide raids The gang is internationally famous for different criminal activities such…

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Murder rate in Italy increases by 15% in 4 yrs

Italy's murder rate rose 15% in the four years from 2020 to 2023 and there were 329 homicides in 2023, up from 287 in 2022, according to figures released recently…

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Almost 5,000 false identity documents seized in Greece

The Aliens Division of Attica within the Hellenic Police (Ellinikí Astynomía), supported by Europol, targeted a criminal network involved in document fraud and migrant smuggling activities. The criminal network, based…

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Sweden has around 62,000 persons linked to criminal gangs, police say

STOCKHOLM, Feb 23 (Reuters) - About 62,000 persons are active in, or have connections to, criminal networks in Sweden, the police said on Friday, where the authorities have struggled for…

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Malta participates in intercontinental crackdown against Nigerian crime syndicates

Europol on Friday revealed that between 7 and 9 December 2023, Europol coordinated a massive international operation targeting Nigerian criminal networks active in the EU and abroad. 16 partners from…

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‘Zombie knives’ to be banned in England and Wales from September

So-called "zombie knives" and machetes will be banned in England and Wales from September, the British government said on Wednesday, making it illegal to possess, sell, manufacture or transport them…

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Turkey arrests alleged British crime boss in Istanbul

ISTANBUL, Dec 6 (Reuters) - Turkey said on Wednesday it had captured the leader of a British gang involved in drug smuggling, illegal gun trade and robbery in an operation…

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Crime group distributing counterfeit euro coins dismantled in Italy

Europol supported the Italian Carabinieri in dismantling an organised crime group involved in the production and distribution of counterfeit euro coins. The European Commission’s European Technical and Scientific Centre also…

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UK retailers demand government action on rising crime

LONDON, Oct 1 (Reuters) - Some 88 UK retail leaders, including the bosses of Tesco, Sainsbury's and Marks & Spencer, have signed a letter to interior minister Suella Braverman, demanding…

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Swedish PM summons army, police chiefs as gang violence rocks nation

By Johan Ahlander STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Sweden's prime minister summoned the head of the armed forces and the police commissioner in a bid to stem gang violence, he said, following…

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Ireland in record $166 mln cocaine seizure after naval operation

DUBLIN, Sept 27 (Reuters) - Irish rangers made the country's biggest ever drugs seizure after a naval operation involving warning shots being fired at a Panamanian cargo vessel which had…

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Corpses, body parts strewn across Mexico’s Monterrey in spate of violence

By Laura Gottesdiener MONTERREY, Mexico, (Reuters) - Mutilated corpses and severed body parts were found dumped in seven locations across the metropolitan area of the Mexican city of Monterrey in…

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Facing ‘torrent of theft’, UK retailers press for police action

By James Davey LONDON, Sept 20 (Reuters) - A coalition of British retail industry groups and shopworkers union USDAW has written to police leaders in England and Wales calling on…

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Italy government targets violent teens and parents in “Baby gang” crackdown

By Giuseppe Fonte and Alvise Armellini ROME (Reuters) - Parents of Italian children who drop out of school could face jail sentences under new steps to counter juvenile delinquency in…

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Photo Story: Italian interforce anti-Mafia operation in Rome and Naples

Special police units, financial police and carabinieri, take part in the joint operation with 'High Impact' mode, in the Spanish quarters of Naples, Italy, 07 September 2023. In total, 800…

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UK to make whole-life sentences mandatory for worst killers

LONDON (Reuters) - The British government said that judges will be required to impose mandatory "whole life orders" on killers who commit the most horrific types of murder, meaning they…

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Railway stations in Brussels becoming a hotspot for crack cocaine and crime

Belgian capital Brussels is seeing a disturbing trend that has been shaking up the city. It's gotten so bad, in fact, that on Wednesday 40 Brussels neighborhood committees and associations…

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Italian police net record 5-tonne cocaine haul off Sicilian coast

ROME, July 21 (Reuters) - Italian authorities have seized a record 5.3 tonne cocaine haul being transferred between ships off the southern coast of Sicily, police said on Friday. …

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Encrypted phone service ‘Encrochat’ shutdown leads to 6,500 arrests – Europol

European policing agency Europol said on Tuesday that the takedown of Encrochat, an underground company that offered criminals supposedly secure encrypted communications, led to more than 6,500 arrests and 900…

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Suella Braverman urges forces to ‘ramp up’ the use of stop-and-search powers

The home secretary has told police leaders to "ramp up" the use of stop-and-search powers to prevent more knife attacks and "save more lives". In a message to all 43…

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Two tourists killed in separate attacks in Mexican hotspot

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - A Canadian tourist was killed in the Mexican state of Oaxaca this week, local authorities said, a day after another tourist was killed in an attack…

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Roman marble bust among 11,000 stolen artefacts recovered in European crackdown

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - A crackdown on international art trafficking has recovered 11,049 stolen artefacts, including ancient coins and books and a marble bust believed to represent the niece of a…

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68 people arrested in Sicily, Calabria and Lombardy over car theft and cocaine trafficking

Carabinieri police based in the Sicilian port city of Catania on Friday executed arrest warrants against 68 people thought to belong to two criminal organisations involved in car theft and…

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Italian police seize 2 tonnes of cocaine off the coast of Sicily

Finance police on Monday seized two tonnes of cocaine found floating off the east coast of Sicily.The drug, with an estimated market value of over 400 million euros, was wrapped…

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Photo Story: Spain, Portugal joint operation dismantles one of Europe’s largest cocaine labs

The material seized during an operation carried out by Spain' National Police and Portugal's Judicial Police sits on a table during a press conference in Madrid, Spain, 13 April 2023.…

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Italian drugs cartels conceal payments via Chinese shadow banks

By Emilio Parodi MILAN (Reuters) - Drugs cartels operating in Italy are increasingly using shadow networks of unlicensed Chinese money brokers to conceal cross-border payments, according to Italian judicial and…

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Gun attacks in Germany in recent years

BERLIN, March 10 (Reuters) - The attack at a Jehovah's Witnesses worship hall in Hamburg, in which a gunman shot dead seven people including an unborn child before killing himself,…

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Foiled multimillion dollar airport heist leaves two dead in Chile

SANTIAGO, (Reuters) - A foiled multimillion-dollar heist at Chile's largest airport left two dead, highlighting concerns of rising crime in the Andean nation. Footage widely shared on social media shows…

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Italian police arrest sister of jailed top mafioso Messina Denaro

ROME, March 3 (Reuters) - Rosalia Messina Denaro, the sister of Italy's recently jailed top mafioso, was arrested on Friday on charges of associating with a mafia organisation, Italian police…

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Ghislaine Maxwell seeks to throw out sex trafficking conviction in Epstein case

Ghislaine Maxwell has asked a U.S. appeals court to throw out her conviction for helping Jeffrey Epstein sexually abuse teenage girls, saying a slew of errors marred her trial and prosecutors made…

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