CSA-Obs

Iran’s illicit economies after six months of war

...After the three-month internet blackout imposed following the ​​​​​​US–Israeli strike that killed Ayatollah Khamenei in February, Iran emerged a fundamentally different regime. It had le...

Posted on 09 Oct 2026

Author(s): Paddy Ginn, Ramin Farrokhi

EAS-Obs

Corruption and organized crime in Moldova

Caught in transit

...Criminal actors in Moldova no longer obtain political protection, and the state constrains its criminal markets more effectively than at any point since the country’s independence. But the current r...

Posted on 08 Oct 2026

Author(s): Liam O’Shea

NAM-Obs

Fentanyl and synthetic drugs monitor

Fentanyl and synthetic drugs monitor

...Fentanyl and synthetic drugs monitor ...

Posted on 07 Oct 2026

Author(s): Cecilia Farfán-Méndez, Jason Eligh

UN-TOC Watch, UNTOC

Will the Crime Congress declaration prove to be more than words on paper?

...The 15th UN Crime Congress opened on Saturday, 26 September, in Abu Dhabi with the adoption of its declaration. Following a lengthy negotiation process, which began in 2025 and concluded in July 2026,...

Posted on 07 Oct 2026

Author(s): Ian Tennant, Sophia Schärer

SA-Obs

Joburglary: Assessing the crime–council ecosystem in the City of Johannesburg

Joburglary

...Click here to download the report Corruption and organised crime intersect in the City of Johannesburg in ways that exploit the machinery of local government for illicit ends. A new report from...

Posted on 06 Oct 2026

Assassination Witness, SA-Obs

Targeted killings and South Africa’s 2026 local government elections

Ballots and bullets

...At least 43 people have been murdered in suspected political assassinations in South Africa since the beginning of the year, as the country prepares for local government elections in November. By comp...

Posted on 02 Oct 2026

Author(s): Julian Rademeyer

CA-Obs

The outsourcing of security in the M23 conflict in the DRC

Violence for sale

...In the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the March 23 Movement (M23) conflict has fuelled a self-reinforcing criminal ecosystem in which the outsourcing of violence serves as cover for econo...

Posted on 30 Sep 2026

Author(s): Zobel Behalal

APA-Obs

Myanmar-linked supply chains and risks for New Zealand and Australia

The Mekong meth business

...Myanmar’s methamphetamine economy sits at the centre of one of the most significant illicit synthetic drug markets in the world. Production linked to Shan State and adjoining areas has supplied mark...

Posted on 30 Sep 2026

Author(s): Kristina Amerhauser, Ioannis Vlassis