SEE-Obs

Professional enablers and the architecture of illicit finance in the Western Balkans

Licence to launder

...Across the Western Balkans, illicit money rarely moves on its own. It travels through notarized contracts, property deeds, loan agreements, invoices and audited financial statements — paperwork that...

Posted on 18 Jun 2026

Author(s): Anesa Agovic Djozo, Dardan Kocani

Eco-Solve

Combating the illegal wildlife trade online, A guide for cyber units, NGOs and researchers

Combating the illegal wildlife trade online

...The illegal wildlife trade (IWT) is one of the world’s most lucrative criminal activities, and a growing share of it happens online. Traffickers use social media, e-commerce platforms, messaging app...

Posted on 17 Jun 2026

Global Initiative

Prisoner’s dilemma, Responding to organized crime in a new world

Prisoner's dilemma

...Over the past three decades, the world has constructed a set of norms that provide a comprehensive framework for combating organized crime. There has been a harmonization of national legislation, incr...

Posted on 14 Jun 2026

Global Initiative

The currency of global crime, How crypto is reshaping illicit economies

The currency of global crime

...Cryptocurrency has shifted from a supplementary payment method into a core enabler of organized crime and cyber-enabled illicit activity. Across a range of illicit activities, crypto facilitates the ...

Posted on 12 Jun 2026

Author(s): John Collins

APA-Obs

Beyond boundaries, The Chinese party-state and geocriminality in South East Asia

Beyond boundaries

...Based on four in-depth case studies from South East Asia, this report finds substantial links between China’s United Front System and criminal elements operating in the region. The report raises va...

Posted on 10 Jun 2026

Global Initiative

Betting on impunity: How the World Cup will heighten risks in global gambling systems

...With the 2026 World Cup about to kick off, the stakes for illicit finance are high. No sport attracts more illegal betting and organized criminal manipulation than football, and the tournament offers ...

Posted on 10 Jun 2026

Author(s): Jennifer Okeyo-Robert

CA-Obs

Malicious markets, Mapping the violent ecosystem in the Central African Republic

Malicious markets

...Over the past five years, the Central African Republic (CAR) has become a hub in which high ranking political and military figures, co-opted criminal actors and transnational organized crime groups ha...

Posted on 10 Jun 2026

Author(s): Nathalia Dukhan, Ruben De Koning

Gold Watch

Commodity, currency, crime: How illicit gold markets are outpacing global responses

Commodity, currency, crime

...Illicit gold is one of the most consequential criminal markets in the world. The term ‘illicit gold’ applies to a wide range of activities and products: gold that is illicitly mined, processed or ...

Posted on 08 Jun 2026

Author(s): Marcena Hunter, Sophia Pickles

EUR-Obs, WEA-Obs

The Arconian operation

The Arconian operation

...On 1 May 2026, Spanish authorities seized more than 30 tonnes of cocaine from the Arconian, a Comoros-flagged dry bulk vessel intercepted off the coast of Western Sahara — the largest single cocaine...

Posted on 08 Jun 2026

Author(s): Josef Skrdlik, Sarah Fares, Lucia Bird Ruiz-Benitez de Lugo