The former navy chief of the small West African nation of Guinea-Bissau was arrested April 2 by United States federal agents for his alleged role in trafficking tons of drugs.

The trial of 16 individuals accused of operating an international drug trafficking syndicate began in Belgrade on Thursday. Those indicted include the infamous Balkan drug lord Darko Šarić, who allegedly masterminded the criminal operation; Šarić’s group allegedly smuggled more than 5,500 kilograms of cocaine from South America into Western Europe.

Šarić and an alleged key member in the criminal venture, Montenegrin businessman Rodoljub Radulović, remain at large and will be tried in absentia. Fourteen others accused of complicity are also on the run; only seven of the indicted are in custody and will appear in court, according to media reports.

The trial has brought controversy to the highest levels of Serbian politics, as links between Radulović and Prime Minister Ivica Dačić including private meetings during a police investigation into Radulović, have come to light. At the time of his alleged crimes, Dačić was serving as Interior Minister and headed the police in Serbia. Radulović’s lawyer downplayed the importance of his client’s connection to the Prime Minister in statements to journalists outside the courthouse, according to local media, reportedly saying, “They had a friendly relationship, the kind Radulović had with many politicians, businessmen and celebrities.” The attorney denied any “political or criminal” connections between the two men.

Šarić’s drug operation functioned largely unhindered until 2009, when a shipment of 1.8 tons of cocaine which originated in Argentina and was bound for Europe was intercepted. Šarić and Radulović were implicated in the trafficking attempt.

OCCRP published a series of stories in 2012 highlighting the deep connections between Šarić and Radulović, which included the sale of a multimillion dollar company. The investigations also uncovered a long history of fraud, deceptive contracts, defaults and what court records labeled “sham’”companies designed to funnel money from international transactions to Radulovic and his companies.

 OCCRP Reporter Stevan Dojčinović was awarded today with Serbia’s top journalism prize – The Jug Grizelj  prize. It is given by the family foundation of Grizelj, an influential reporter who died at 65 in 1991. 

Stevan, an editor at OCCRP's Serbian partner, the Center for Investigative Journalism in Serbia (CINS), won for his series on the spread of organized crime and corruption in Serbia and the region. His articles, which ran in local and regional newspapers and magazines, included:

An account of how the Serbian government awarded several privatization deals to convicted cigarette-smuggler Anton Stanaj;

A project that traced the fortune of infamous fugitive drug kingpin Darko Saric;

The discovery that an influential advisor to Serbian Prime Minister Ivica Dačić had long-term business relationships with Motnenegrin organized crime;

A detailed history of the criminal practices and political connections of Serbian businessman Rodoljub Radulovic, who was indicted in Serbia in December for cocaine smuggling.

And an investigation into the offshore companies and fraudulent business deals of Serbia's richest tycoon, Miroslav Miskovic, who was later arrested under suspicion of pocketing profits during state privatizations.

"He brought us a group of people who are known as successful entrepreneurs, high-ranking government officials and politicians, and finally, criminals," said Jug Grizeli board member Casimir Ćurgus at the awards ceremony today. "The big-time criminals who have long wanted lists, we knew about before, but the latter - successful businessmen and politicians, we knew only the half of it."

Corruption has become a serious threat to the sustainability of climate control mechanisms, especially cap-and-trade systems, according to the latest bulletin from the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP).

Italian police seized property and bank accounts worth $1.7 billion from a clean energy tycoon accused of ties with the Sicilian mafia. The property confiscated includes 43 wind and solar energy companies and 66 bank accounts.

Western sanctions on Iran have led to an increasingly lucrative black market trade in Iranian diesel fuel across the Iran-Pakistan border.

In the latest of a series ofanti-corruption measures, China has cracked down on improperly attained military license plates, which well-connected drivers display as status symbols and use to flaunt laws.

Mexican drug cartels are expanding their presence in the United States far beyond the border states that have traditionally been their home, according to an investigation by the Associated Press.

 Instead of using unaffiliated middlemen to transfer and sell drugs in the US interior, inner circle cartel members are now being assigned to run drug distribution in “at least nine non-border states” in the Midwest, South, and Northeast of the country, according to AP. 

While the cartel presence is an old problem along the US southern border, suspects with strong cartel links have lately been seen in new regions. Direct cartel involvement has been on the rise in Chicago, Atlanta, rural North Carolina, Indiana and Pennsylvania. That Chicago -- a city more than 1000 miles from the US-Mexico border -- recently named the infamous Sinaloa cartel kingpin public enemy number one is illustrative of the far reach of Mexican drug syndicates.

The chance to increase profits drives this change, according to the AP's investigation. The middlemen who formerly sold drugs on behalf of the cartels became unnecessary, and the cartels sought to exert the same level of control in the rest of the US as they do along the Mexico border, the AP investigation found. 

Not everyone is convinced that the threat is as severe as portrayed: empirical evidence to support the claim that cartels are taking over direct control of their interior US operations is lacking, and individuals should be “very cautious about the assumptions [they] make,” an expert on US-Mexico relations at the University of San Diego told AP.

US Drug Enforcement Agency data on cartel presence in US cities has showed a marked increase. Approximately 230 communities reported cartel activity in 2008; that number jumped to over 1,200 in 2011. However, while the numbers may suggest drastic growth, the increase is at least partly due to better reporting practices.

A New York doctor, his office manager, and 46 others were arrested last week after an investigation into drug trafficking worth $10 million.

A multinational operation arrested 44 members of an organized crime syndicate responsible forcredit card fraud which affected approximately 36,000 individuals across 16 European countries,according to a Europol press release.

The crime group stole credit card information using manipulated point of sale (POS) terminals-- the machines where credit cards are swiped in. Card reading software was implanted intothe POS terminals, and members of the crime group then created counterfeit credit cards withthe stolen information. The thieves then targeted major European shopping malls, according toEuropol.

Police conducted 82 house searches in Romania and the UK, and closed down two illegalworkshops where POS manipulation devices were produced. Counterfeit cards, stolenelectronic data, and cash were also seized during the course of the operation.

OperationPandora-Storm as the action was dubbed involved 20 law enforcement agenciesfrom Europe, North America, and Australia. The investigation was headed by the RomanianCybercrime Unit and a specialized Organized Crime Division of the Prosecutor’s Office.Europol’s European Cybercrime Center contributed analysis and coordination assistance to theinvestigation. The final arrests involved over 400 police officers, a Romanian command center inBucharest, and support from Europol headquarters in The Hague.

In its Serious Organized Crime Assessment (SOCTA) published in March 2013, the EUhighlighted the threat posed by organized crime diversification. Among the threats mentionedin the report was a rise in organized electronic crime, including credit card fraud. The reportestimated that organized crime groups earn $1.9 billion from credit card fraud alone. the low-riskhigh-reward nature of cybercrime contributes to its popularity, the report concluded. The reportalso warned that as mobile payments and the use of near field communication expand, theyprovide “new opportunities for data theft and fraud.”

Troels Oerting, Head of European Cybercrime Center echoed the report’s statements. He praised the success of Operation Pandora-Storm, saying it was an “example of excellent policework and flawless cooperation,” but added that the in the future “cybercrime will become a greatchallenge for the [law enforcement] community.”