UN Cyberwatch

The rise and fall of the Conti ransomware group

...On 25 February 2022, a message appeared on a darknet website run by the cybercriminal syndicate known as Conti. The message pledged allegiance and support for the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukrain...

Posted on 27 Jun 2023

Author(s): Jack Meegan-Vickers

Drug Policy, Latinoamérica y el Caribe, AR-Obs

The Path to Cannabis Regulation in Colombia

...In 1994 Colombia decriminalized the personal use and self-cultivation of several cannabis varieties, although production, distribution and commercialization remain penalized by law. In Colombia’s w...

Posted on 19 Jun 2023

Author(s): María Alejandra Vélez

UN Cyberwatch, UN-TOC Watch

Still poles apart: UN Cybercrime Treaty negotiations

Still poles apart

...The UN Ad Hoc Committee negotiating a treaty on Countering the Use of Information and Communications Technologies for Criminal Purposes (henceforth ‘AHC’) has completed its deliberations on a nego...

Posted on 12 Jun 2023

Author(s): Summer Walker

WEA-Obs

Car thieves of the Sahel: Dynamics of the stolen vehicle trade

Car thieves of the Sahel

...In May 2022, two Nigerian citizens were arrested in Niamey, Niger, while trying to drive back to Nigeria in a stolen Toyota Corolla. The Corolla had a Nigerian licence plate, but police discovered tha...

Posted on 09 Jun 2023

Author(s): Eleanor Beevor

Drug Policy, WEA-Obs

The plant at the root of Iran’s meth market

...Having long hosted Western Asia’s largest methamphetamine market, Iran for decades has employed an aggressive multi-million-dollar campaign to curb the trade. The discovery, however, of the ephedra ...

Posted on 09 Jun 2023

Author(s): Laura Adal, Sarah Fares

UN-TOC Watch, UNTOC

Hostage negotiations at the 32nd CCPCJ

...The 32nd meeting of the UN Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (CCPCJ) took place 22–26 May 2023 in Vienna. As has become the trend in recent years, geopolitics overshadowed proceedi...

Posted on 08 Jun 2023

EUR-Obs

Not my kingpin: Operation targets ‘Ndrangheta royalty in Europe

...Scores of mafia group members arrested in northern European joint operation. On 3 May 2023, a joint operation conducted by law enforcement authorities in eight European countries led to the arrest of...

Posted on 02 Jun 2023

Author(s): Ruggero Scaturro

ENACT, UN-TOC Watch, UNTOC

Measuring the treatment: the UNTOC in Africa

Measuring the treatment

...This report, authored by Olwethu Majola and Darren Brookbanks, was originally published at enactafrica.org This paper uses data and analysis to assess the UNTOC's effectiveness in addressin...

Posted on 02 Jun 2023

Author(s): Darren Brookbanks

Latinoamérica y el Caribe, Programa Somos Comunidad, AR-Obs

Conflicto y crimen organizado

Conflicto y crimen organizado

...El Encuentro Internacional de Conflicto y Crimen Organizado, realizado entre el 31 de enero y el 1 de febrero del 2023, en Colombia, demostró la importancia de establecer puentes entre la academia, l...

Posted on 01 Jun 2023