Global Initiative

The high-profile resignation of an Italian justice ministry official highlights how mafias exert their influence today

...Andrea Delmastro’s resignation as Italy’s undersecretary of the Ministry of Justice in March 2026 was more than just a political scandal. It demonstrated how mafia groups in the country increasing...

Posted on 23 Apr 2026

Author(s): Ruggero Scaturro

APA-Obs

Mekong Risk Monitor #2

Mekong Risk Monitor

...Welcome to the second issue of the Mekong Risk Monitor. The monitor is a periodic publication of the Mekong Network to Counter Transnational Crime (MNET-CTC), a programme implemented in partnership by...

Posted on 22 Apr 2026

Gold Watch, Sanctions and organized crime

How the Middle East conflict is creating the conditions for the convergence of criminal finance in Africa

...As pressure mounts in the Strait of Hormuz, amid one of the most serious escalations in the Middle East in decades, commentary and analysis have focused on familiar indicators, such as maritime chokep...

Posted on 22 Apr 2026

Author(s): Susan Adhiambo Onyango

Global Initiative

‘Half a victory’ – the implications of Daniel Kinahan’s arrest for transnational organized crime

...Daniel Kinahan, the alleged leader of the Kinahan organized crime group, was arrested in Dubai on Friday following a covert operation involving Irish and United Arab Emirates (UAE) authorities. The ar...

Posted on 21 Apr 2026

Author(s): John Collins, Noel Browne

UN-TOC Watch

The case for a new global framework to tackle environmental crime

...A new legal instrument to address environmental crime is urgently needed, given the growing scale, sophistication and transnational nature of these offences. However, a recent UN expert meeting dedica...

Posted on 16 Apr 2026

Author(s): Ian Tennant

Global Initiative

Criminal coexistence: The illicit ecosystem of the Southern Cone’s triple border

Criminal coexistence

...The Southern Cone tri-border area —comprising Ciudad del Este (Paraguay), Foz do Iguaçu (Brazil) and Puerto Iguazú (Argentina)— constitutes one of the most distinctive cross-border spaces in Sou...

Posted on 14 Apr 2026

Author(s): Renato Rivera Rhon, Gabriel Funari

APA-Obs

Playing legislative catch-up: Drug law reform in the Pacific

...Drug trafficking is expanding rapidly across the Pacific. Countries that were once primarily transit points have experienced a surge in domestic consumption, with some also emerging as production site...

Posted on 13 Apr 2026

Author(s): Virginia Comolli