Organized Crime

Brazil’s First Capital Command, or PCC, has expanded from a prison gang founded in Sao Paulo state in 1993 into what authorities describe as the largest criminal group in the Americas, with some 40,000 members and affiliates operating in nearly 30 countries.

Cybercrime syndicates operating in Cambodia have grown so large and politically connected that the industry now rivals the country’s formal economy, with online scam networks accused of corrupting officials, enslaving workers, and defrauding victims around the world.

Daniel Kinahan, the Irishman long alleged to be one of Europe’s leading organized-crime figures and drug traffickers, has been arrested in Dubai on an Irish warrant and is expected to be extradited to Ireland.

Fraud appears to be worsening in the UK’s insurance sector, driven in large part by the submission of phony claims backed by AI-altered images. 

New details about the allegations against the rapper Gims have emerged after French authorities charged the Congolese music star with money laundering linked to millions of euros in suspicious transactions.

The U.S. Treasury Department on Tuesday imposed sanctions on six people and businesses it said were tied to a money laundering and cash-smuggling network operated by Cartel del Noreste, a Mexican drug trafficking group active near the U.S.-Mexico border.

Chilean authorities uncovered organized criminal networks that investigators say stole, processed, and shipped copper on a vast scale to Peru and China, exposing a trade worth an estimated 817 billion pesos, or about $917 million, between 2020 and 2025.

Britain’s new Fair Work Agency will target abuse of labor market rules in construction and social care, two sectors heavily dependent on migrant workers, as the government expands enforcement powers to pursue fraud and workplace exploitation.

Soaring chocolate prices and strong Easter demand are helping drive a rise in shop theft across Britain, with organized crime gangs increasingly targeting confectionery because it is portable, easy to resell, and difficult to trace.

Brazil’s biggest-ever bank fraud case has left the country’s banking system facing a 52 billion-real ($9.9 billion) bill after Banco Master used funds, asset sales, and other maneuvers to hide major balance-sheet problems from investors and regulators.