Illicit Finance

A DEA wanted poster of Juan Carlos Valencia Gonzalez also known as “Pelon”

The new leader of Mexico’s Jalisco New Generation cartel is an American citizen, a distinction that could complicate efforts by U.S. intelligence and law enforcement agencies to target him even as Washington and Mexico deepen cooperation against drug traffickers.

Gun wall rack with pistols at a gun show.

Weapons traffickers supplying Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel have sharply increased shipments from the United States, with demand fueled by cartel warfare and financed through a growing cross-border smuggling business that now moves hundreds of firearms at a time.

Companies House sign on exterior of former government office building located in Westminster, London (closed 2022).

Companies House has removed cryptocurrency exchange Zedxion Exchange Ltd. from the UK’s register of businesses after an investigative report by OCCRP found the firm used a fictitious director and misleading incorporation filings to conceal links to sanctioned Iranian tycoon Babak Zanjani.

European Union flags outside European Commission building in Brussels, Belgium. Close up

The EU’s Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA) has launched a data-collection exercise to test and calibrate risk-assessment models that will be used in 2027 to choose up to 40 financial institutions for direct AMLA supervision starting in 2028.