Global Initiative

Abuse at scale: Artificial intelligence is reshaping child sexual exploitation

...A teenager uploads an ordinary photograph to social media. Minutes later, someone they have never met downloads it, alters it and turns it into sexual abuse material – without their knowled...

Posted on 20 Jul 2026

Author(s): Anesa Agovic Djozo, Livia Wagner, Minna Fisher

Global Organized Crime Index

The wood for the trees, Why illicit logging persists despite North Korea’s expanding forest governance

...In 2025, residents of Ongjin County in North Korea described ‘frequent fights’ between villagers collecting firewood and rangers tasked with protecting forests. As one witness observed, ‘People ...

Posted on 15 Jul 2026

Author(s): Laura Martin

CSA-Obs

Heroin trafficking along the northern and southern routes

Heroin trafficking along the northern and southern routes

...In 2017, the total amount of opium produced globally was estimated at 10 500 tonnes, 9 000 tonnes (86%) of which came from Afghanistan. In 2018, 9.9 tonnes of heroin were seized in European Union coun...

Posted on 09 Jul 2026

Author(s): Paddy Ginn, Danial Husain

APA-Obs

Global Organized Crime Index 2025 – Oceania Overview

Global Organized Crime Index 2025

...Oceania has vast maritime zones and limited enforcement capacity, coupled with weak regulatory oversight and vulnerable economies that are highly dependent on natural resources. These conditions have ...

Posted on 09 Jul 2026

Eco-Solve

Monitoring online illegal wildlife trade: Featuring musk deer in South Asia and ostrich trade in Cameroon

Monitoring online illegal wildlife trade

...The last decade and a half have seen a sharp expansion in the online illegal wildlife trade (IWT). However, a dearth of data regarding the scale of the market, its dynamics, operations and ramificatio...

Posted on 07 Jul 2026

AR-Obs

Criminal aftershocks, What Niño Guerrero’s death and the earthquake mean for organized crime in Venezuela

...On 12 June, the US and Venezuelan governments announced the killing of Héctor ‘Niño’ Guerrero, the leader of one of Venezuela’s most notorious gangs, Tren de Aragua, in an air strike on one of...

Posted on 06 Jul 2026

Author(s): Felipe Botero Escobar, Gabriel Funari