Spotlight 36: An autumn full of news
Corruption and organised crime never go to sleep, so we do remain vigilant.
Hi! Welcome back to the 36th issue of Spotlight, a fortnightly collection of news, articles and events about organised crime and corruption curated by Firm UK.
A few days ago, you received a special issue inviting you to two events which will both take place in London in November: we would love to see you there.
We have been away for the summer break, and we are now back with our selection of news, amongst which: drug trafficking and cocaine in Venezuela e Colombia, an event on the role of women in preventing crime and a funding opportunity expiring on the 15th of November.
Last but not least, the last four episodes of FIRM UK associate Anna Sergi’s podcast, Chasing the Mafia, are available at the link below.
We hope you enjoy Spotlight. And if you like it, please share it with your network and invite them to subscribe.
Thank you!
Venezuela and the ELN’s Love-Hate Relationship with Drug Trafficking
This investigative piece traces back the relationship between the ELN, a Marxist-Leninist guerrilla insurgency, with the cocaine trade since its formation, in Colombia in the 1960s.
At first, the group condemned drug trafficking and stayed out of the business. However, as money became to flow, the ELN started charging farmers taxes on their production. Soon, in some regions, the guerrillas were also providing protection for coca crops, laboratories, and drug routes, and even supplying precursor chemicals. Today, the ELN operates along the Venezuelan border, allegedly controlling thousands of kilometres from the Caribbean coast to the Amazon rainforest. With it, the group has positioned itself to be the gatekeeper of trafficking routes used to move an estimated 250 tons of cocaine every year.
Operation Medusa
Operation Medusa is the police operation that took down one of the most prolific wildlife traffickers. Investigations led to dozens of prosecutions in Vietnam, China, and Malaysia and the seizure of more than 3.8 tons of ivory, nearly 200 kilograms of rhino horn, and close to 30 kilograms of pangolin scales. Stretching over several years, the Operation followed Ah Nam, the alias by which the trafficker was known, from when he was just a small player, throughout his career as a broker up to 2019, when he was arrested in 2019.
Coca cultivation in Columbia
A new United Nations report finds that coca cultivation in Colombia in 2021 increased by 43% on the previous year. This amounts to 204,000 hectares and is the highest number ever recorded. According to the report, the new situation is the result of both short and long-term processes and underlying structural conditions in Colombia.
You can also read the full report in Spanish. And, last but not least, you can read more about it in this Insight Crime commentary.
Tears of the crocodile: global crime syndicates eye Australia’s casinos to ‘wash’ cash
This commentary article starts from a report on Asian roulette, by the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, which has identified the Asia–Pacific as the world’s largest and fastest-growing market for online and casino-based gambling. The commentary notices how some casinos in Australia and the ‘dirty money made clean’ through them have been used as part of larger global operations involving drugs and people trafficking as well as wildlife and environmental crimes. Even further, the report finds that, globally, casinos can have a series of damaging environmental impacts from deforestation—that may be required to build the establishment in the first place—to operational activities, such as the sale of protected and endangered species on some of their restaurants’ menus. The commentary introduces some reflections by academics from Australia and Australian law enforcement.
The GI-TOC report can be read here.
UK government’s approach to waste crime ‘close to decriminalisation’
A new report by Commons public accounts committee (Pac) presented to the UK parliament, found that waste crimes (such as illegal waste dumping) are on the rise as little is done to tackle them. The report is highly critical of Defra and the Environment Agency, which it says are making only “slow and piecemeal” progress in implementing the 2018 resources and waste strategy aimed at eliminating waste crime. It points out there is still no plan for achieving its target of eliminating waste crime by 2043. The report states that four years into that 25-year target measures central to achieving the aim such as digital tracking of waste are “not even at the pilot stage”. Before making recommendations the report noticed how
“waste crime is not getting the local or national attention needed to effectively tackle it, despite it being on the rise and increasingly dominated by organised criminal gangs”, and the cost of living crisis is potentially increasing the “incentives for people to get rid of waste inappropriately”.
The report can be found here.
Events
in Spanish [Thursday, 27th October 2022, 07 pm CEST] - an event held in Rome
Migración y Violencia en Centroamérica - Noria MXAC
The event explores Central American migration to the United States. Despite its recent attention, the phenomenon has been going on for a century or more. Especially in the mid-1980s, migratory flows peaked due to revolutions, civil wars, and brutal government repression experienced in the region. Speakers such as Gema Kloppe-Santamaria, Nathaniel Morris, Juan José Martinez d'Aubuisson, Bryan Avelar, Sonja Wolf and Tomas Ayuso will analyse the issue and discuss the different ways in which migration violence can be documented.
[Thursday 10th and Friday 11th November 2022]
By showcasing examples of how women are contributing to effective criminal justice responses to cybercrime, the conference aims at providing a platform for the exchange of experiences and good practices on how to further cement women’s position as central figures in the global fight against cybercrime.
With participants from Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Asia and the Pacific joining the participants from North, Central and South America and the Caribbean, the international conference is set for rich discussions during the plenaries and thematic workshops.
The plenaries, conclusions and final remarks will be live-streamed on the event's website.
Podcasts
The last four episodes of Deep Dive by the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime explore some of the themes of Chasing the Mafia, by FIRM UK associate Professor Anna Sergi, published by Bristol University Press in June 2022:
P1 - 'Ndrangheta - "The Madonna of the Mountain"
P2 - 'Ndrangheta - "'Ndrangheta Royalty Down Under"
P3 - 'Ndrangheta - "The Chamber of Control"
P4 - 'Ndrangheta - "The Cocaine Gateway”.
You can buy the book with a 30% discount with the code SERGI30 until the 30th of November when ordered online.
Sea Control 371 - Maritime Security and Colombia with Dr Oscar Palma Morales who discusses his research and work on maritime security and drug trafficking in Colombia.
Funding opportunity
The Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime (GI-TOC) announced the fourth edition of the Resilience Fellowship, which provides grants and support to civil society individuals and organisations working to counter the impacts of criminal governance and violence across the world. Grants of US$15 000 per Fellow are awarded for one year. For 2023, the Fellowship will have human rights and organised crime as its theme.
Deadline: 15th November 2022. For information on the application process, eligibility criteria, and much more, use the link here.