Organized Crime

Local governments in southern Italy that colluded with organized crime deliberately avoided large EU-funded projects to stay below anti-mafia certification thresholds, according to new academic research.

Small towns, school districts, and utilities across the United States lack the staffing and basic cyberdefenses needed to fend off a new generation of AI-enabled hacking threats even as larger institutions scramble to shore up their systems.

A resurgence of piracy off the coast of Somalia is compounding pressure on global shipping already strained by conflict in the Middle East, with multiple vessels hijacked in recent weeks and industry leaders warning of fresh strain on supply chains.

Hackers widely believed to be linked to North Korea appear to have used artificial intelligence to pull off two crypto heists in April that netted nearly $600 million. That more can be on the way is rattling the $130-billion decentralized finance sector.

The chief executive of Britain’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said the regulator will no longer be able to defend against every illicit-finance threat equally and must openly prioritize what it focuses on as technology-linked scams continue to rise. 

Monaco’s financial markets watchdog has fined UBS €6 million for “numerous serious breaches” in anti-money-laundering and counterterrorism financing controls.

President Donald Trump has signed off on a new U.S. counterterrorism strategy that makes eliminating drug cartels in the Western Hemisphere the administration’s highest priority, the White House announced Wednesday.

A network of TikTok accounts utilizing coded emojis, faction nicknames, and narco ballads are advertising the Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG) in an apparent attempt to recruit new members for one of Mexico’s most powerful criminal organizations, according to a report released this week by social-media analysis firm Graphika.

Money laundering offenses in the Republic of Ireland have surged to unprecedented levels, with gardaí recording close to 2,800 cases last year and struggling to keep pace with the volume.

Thousands of seemingly legitimate UK high street shops are being used by organized-crime groups to launder illicit cash, sell illegal goods, and feed wider criminal networks, with at least £47 billion a year drained from the British economy by the schemes.