Spanish authorities have detained 13 suspected members of a criminal network engaged in illegal animal trade, with a focus on puppies and kittens. Conditions for the animals, about 400 of them, were distressing and led to several deaths.

The European Commission has called for an overhaul of regulations surrounding so-called golden passports whose holders are allowed visa-free access to the EU. In doing so, the Commission revealed that just five Caribbean states had sold 88,000 passports between them. Of those, tiny Dominica had sold 34,500.

The European Union took another step toward banning products originating from forced labor when two committees of the European Parliament in Strasbourg approved proposed legislation this week.

A Belgian court sentenced the leader of a group that smuggled around 10,000 people to the United Kingdom in small boats to 11 years in prison. British authorities arrested and extradited the Iranian-born man who coordinated his smuggling operations from his home in East London, according to the National Crime Agency.

Lawyers for mining entrepreneur Beny Steinmetz have failed to secure his conditional release from detention in Cyprus, as the country’s Supreme Court prepares to rule on his extradition to Romania.

In a joint operation, customs officials in European and Asian ports meticulously inspected deep-sea containers and confiscated tonnes of illicit cigarettes and pesticides destined for Europe, as well as waste shipments bound for Asia.

Nigerian authorities have publicly incinerated seized wildlife products for the first time in the country's history, sending a clear message that they will not tolerate wildlife trafficking and the trade of illegal products from protected species.

Nine days before he was killed, journalist Rafael Moreno told Forbidden Stories he believed construction companies were illegally extracting sand and rock from the Uré River in northern Colombia. A year after Moreno’s brutal murder, journalists have uncovered evidence that backs up his suspicions.

Alexei Navalny, the imprisoned Russian opposition leader, criticized on Tuesday the arrest of three of his attorneys, characterizing it as part of the Russian authorities' attempt to further isolate him.

Authorities from 17 European countries, during a French-led operation from September 13th to September 21st, arrested 38 suspects and identified 1583 victims of labor exploitation within the agricultural sector, among them 353 people believed to have been human trafficking victims, as reported by Europol on Monday.