Gold Watch, ESA-Obs

The Somali gold rush: Milxo and the ungoverned mining frontier

The Somali gold rush

...Milxo is a tiny mining settlement in a remote and contested region of north-eastern Somalia that, over the past decade, has become the site of one of Africa’s least-known gold booms. What was little...

Posted on 02 Feb 2026

Author(s): Jay Bahadur

Assassination Witness, Latinoamérica y el Caribe

Deadly democracy: Lethal political violence in Brazil

Deadly democracy

...This report presents the first comprehensive longitudinal survey of lethal political violence in Brazil, documenting patterns of political assassination, attempted assassination and credible death thr...

Posted on 30 Jan 2026

Author(s): Prof. Angela Alonso, Viviane Brito de Souza, Patricia Jimenez Rezende, José Alexandre Oliveira, Paulo Castro

APA-Obs

Will Chen Zhi’s arrest and extradition be a wake-up call for scam bosses in the Mekong?

...On 6 January 2026, Chen Zhi, a 37-year-old Chinese-born tycoon, was arrested in Cambodia and extradited to China. Chen Zhi, accused of masterminding a huge ‘cyber-fraud empire’, was charged by the...

Posted on 29 Jan 2026

Author(s): Jason G Tower, Kristina Amerhauser

Global Initiative

Carceral capture: Criminal governance in Ecuador’s prison system

Carceral capture

...Ecuador’s prison system has undergone a profound transformation over the past decade. This report examines how criminal groups have consolidated control inside prisons, reshaping them into spaces go...

Posted on 29 Jan 2026

Author(s): Renato Rivera

CA-Obs

Feeding the furnace: Tracing opaque gold supply chains and deals in Central Africa

Feeding the furnace:

...All eyes remain on mineral supply chains in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) following the capture of key eastern trading hubs and gold-rich territories by M23 rebels backed by Rwanda in early 2...

Posted on 28 Jan 2026

CA-Obs

Goma, one year on: Illicit profits, failed peace

...In January 2025, Goma fell to the M23 rebel group, marking a brutal turning point in the protracted conflict in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Goma, the capital of North Kivu province...

Posted on 26 Jan 2026

Author(s): Zobel Behalal

Global Initiative

Frontiers of plunder

Frontiers of plunder

...Environmental crime in northern Mexico poses an existential threat, sitting at the nexus of organized crime, environmental degradation, corporate malfeasance and community vulnerability. In Chihuahua...

Posted on 23 Jan 2026