Spanish authorities closed down three illegal tobacco factories and arrested 27 suspected members of a criminal group that employed Ukrainians who escaped the Russian invasion of their country to produce the cigarettes.

The Cameroonian Gendarmerie arrested an individual with a large quantity of human bones, stating that authorities are determined to eradicate the growing phenomenon of human bone trafficking.

Police in the United States and in the EU arrested five people and seized their globally operating Hong Kong-registered cryptocurrency exchange Bitzlato because it allegedly facilitated the laundering of large sums of illicit profits and converted them into Russian rubles, a Europol statement said on Monday.

Sierra Leone’s audit report for the year 2021 released last week has unprecedentedly left out the Office of the President, leaving civil society in doubts over the credibility of its findings and increasing suspicion that President Julius Maada Bio is abusing the nation’s wealth for personal enrichment.

Kyrgyz authorities asked a court on Monday to permanently ban Radio Azattyk, the Kyrgyz service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, from the country because the outlet’s description of the Kyrgyz-Tajik conflict is not in line with the government’s narrative.

A prominent Pakistani lawyer and a renowned human rights activist was shot dead by his colleague inside the high court in the north-western city of Peshawar. Police said the assassin believed the victim was involved in the murder of his father.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) charged Wednesday three suspected members of a transnational drug trafficking ring linked to a 2022 seizure of 1.5 tonnes of cocaine worth just under CDN$200 million (US$149 million).

Investigators from several European countries have traveled to Lebanon to advance their probes into the country’s Central Bank Governor, Riad Salame, accused of embezzlement and money laundering abroad and at home, OCCRP’s local partner Daraj reported.

The Czech police announced on Tuesday that they have arrested a high-ranking mafia member wanted in the United States for “serious violent crimes.” Media identified the man as a Georgia-born Azeri who was involved in murders and kidnappings.

With the help of colleagues from Turkey and Serbia, Bulgarian authorities carried out a large-scale operation against organized crime groups involved in migrant smuggling throughout the Balkans, Europol reported Tuesday.