15 June 2022

UN

Five countries elected to serve on UN Security Council

Five countries have been elected to serve as non-permanent members of the UN Security Council following a vote in the General Assembly on Thursday.

Ecuador, Japan, Malta, Mozambique and Switzerland will join the UN body responsible for the maintenance of global peace and security, beginning in January 2023.

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Mediterranean Sea journeys for migrants have grown more deadly: UNHCR

Migrants who risk their lives to cross the Mediterranean to Europe on flimsy boats often piloted by people-smugglers, are at greater risk of dying now than for years, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said on Friday.

Latest data visualisation figures from UNHCR, shows that there were 3,231 dead or missing at sea last year, a sharp rise from 2020.

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INTERPOL

Hundreds arrested and millions seized in global INTERPOL operation against social engineering scams

International police cooperation targets telecommunication fraud, business mail compromise (BEC) and associated money laundering

LYON, France -- A worldwide crackdown on social engineering fraud has seen scammers identified globally, substantial criminal assets seized and new investigative leads triggered in every continent.

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Swift global police coordination lands people smuggling fugitive behind bars

Brazil’s Federal Police arrests suspect with support from INTERPOL General Secretariat headquarters

BRASILIA, Brazil -- An international fugitive wanted by two INTERPOL member countries for people smuggling, document forgery and criminal association has been arrested in Brazil.

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New campaign highlights digital extortion threats and how to keep safe

Be vigilant or #YouMayBeNext

SINGAPORE – In this increasingly digitalized world, cybercrime poses a serious threat to both individuals and society at large. By attacking your device’s vulnerabilities, cybercriminals are able to gain access to confidential material, which they can then use to blackmail or extort money.

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Europol

From Poland to the Canary Islands: 10 arrested for stealing EUR 34 million in taxpayers’ money

The Polish Police Central Bureau of Investigation (Centralne Biuro Śledcze Policji), with the support of the Spanish Civil Guard (Guardia Civil) and Europol, has unravelled a sophisticated tax evasion scheme which caused over EUR 34 million in tax loss to the Polish state budget. A total of 10 individuals were arrested for their involvement in this value-added tax (VAT) fraud scheme.

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Targeted: migrant smuggling kingpins with links to more than 180 investigations

Europol’s Operational Task Force has already enabled the arrests of eight of these highly dangerous migrant smugglers, who are active across the EU

An Operational Task Force (OTF), led by the German Federal Police and coordinated by Europol targeted some of the most dangerous migrant smugglers across the EU. The dedicated OTF Pathfinder involved law enforcement authorities from Austria, Germany, Hungary, Romania, Serbia and the Netherlands, and led to the opening of 39 new investigations. The latest Action Day on 1 June led to the arrests of two High Value Targets, 12 house searches and seizure of more than EUR 80 000 in Germany and France.

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Spanish operation takes down police and customs officers helping ship cocaine and hashish into Europe

With the support of Europol’s European Financial and Economic Crime Centre, the Spanish Civil Guard (Guardia Civil) and National Police (Policía Nacional) have dismantled a drugs trafficking network which allegedly relied on corrupt law enforcement and customs officers to ship hundreds of millions of euros’ worth of cocaine and hashish into Western Europe. 

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Suspect arrested in Slovakia for spreading hate speech and 3D printed weapons manuals

The individual allegedly disseminated ‘how to make home-made weapons’ instructions extensively online, together with violent extremist propaganda.

An investigation by the Slovak National Crime Agency (Národná kriminálna agentúra/NAKA), the Slovak Military Intelligence (Vojenské spravodajstvo), the Slovak Police (Príslušníci / PZ SR), supported by the Czech National Organized Crime Agency (Národní centrála proti organizovanému zločinu/NCOZ), the US FBI, Europol and Eurojust, led to the arrest of a dangerous right-wing extremist. 

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