Matteo Messina Denaro, Italy’s most wanted man, was arrested while receiving cancer treatment in a private clinic in Palermo, prosecutor Maurizio de Lucia said Monday. He was Italy’s Most Wanted Man and also high up on the list of Europol’s Most Wanted Men in Europe. “It is a victory for all the police forces that have worked together over these long years to bring the dangerous fugitive to justice.” Italy’s chief of Police, Lamberto Giannini Giorgia Meloni, the Italian Prime Minister, tweeted: “A great victory for the state, which demonstrates that it does not give up in the face of the Mafi ..read more

According to a video message posted by the Belgian Minister of Justice, Vincent Van Quickenborne, the Belgian security forces had prevented an organized crime squad from kidnapping him. This followed a statement that Van Quickenborne had published on Facebook earlier in the day, announcing that the security services had effectively and swiftly countered a threat to his address involving numerous suspects from the Netherlands. “It is a threat that was directed against myself as Minister of Justice and no one else. Action was taken quickly and suspects were arrested. As a precautionary measure ..read more

Nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel was fatally shot and killed on August 22, 2022, when a shooter barged into her home in Liverpool, in what is believed to have been a hit related to organized crime. The little girl attended St Margaret Mary’s School and lived with her mother Cheryl on Kingsheath Avenue. On the night of the tragedy, CCTV footages shows two men walking along Kingsheath Avenue near Olivia’s home. A man wearing a black padded jacket, a black balaclava with a peak, dark leggings, and black gloves approached the pair, who immediately ran away. Hearing the noise, Cheryl, Olivia’s mum ..read more

Viktor Zelinger, a dual citizen of the United States and Ukraine, who is also known as “Vitya” and “Vityok,” was extradited from Switzerland to the United States on the basis of a nine-count superseding indictment. He is accused of being the head of an Eastern European organized crime group that operated in the Brooklyn neighbourhoods of Brighton Beach, Sheepshead Bay, and Coney Island and was connected to high-level Russian mafia figures known as “Thieves in Law” or “Thieves.” Zelinger is accused of racketeering, a conspiracy to commit racketeering, arson, illegal gambling, extortionate credi ..read more

According to De Telegraaf, in the Netherlands extra security has been put in place for Princess Amalia and Prime Minister Mark Rutte due to concerns that one of them could be attacked or kidnapped by an organized crime group. Rutte has allegedly been the target of the criminal organization previously. The prime minister’s protection was increased in September 2021 because of concerns that organized crime would target him for an attack or kidnapping. The police and Public Prosecution Service (OM) are on high alert, due to intelligence received that local criminal groups were going to target the ..read more

Venezuela has recently seen an upsurge in narcotrafficking operations, gold and petroleum smuggling and corruption in its ports and customs. Venezuela has become a major hub of organized crime in South American, where criminal organizations mostly use violence to command illicit economies and raise money. According to a report by the Venezuelan branch of the nonpartisan organization Transparency International, these activities generate approximately $9.4 billion in revenue yearly for criminal organizations that receive backing from dishonest officials. As the standard of living for 90% of the ..read more

According to the Israel Money Laundering and Terror Financing Prohibition Authority, which falls under the remit of Justice Ministry, in 2021 there was a substantial rise in the number of financial crimes linked to organized crime and terrorism. According to the Authority’s estimates, organized crime’s proportion of all financial crimes increased from 6.8% in 2020 to 19% in 2021. Terror financing, on the other hand, increased from 9% in 2020 to 14.6% in 2021 as a proportion of financial crimes in Israel. In 2021, fraud, deceit, and counterfeiting made up 23% of financial crime, with tax offen ..read more

In South Africa, organized crime includes everything from the distribution of heroin and cocaine to the smuggling of people, rhino hunting, and the theft of metal from public utilities like the water, power, and transportation. A rise in cash-in-transit robberies and vigilante killings are two more problems. With South Africa now having the most internet protocol addresses used for digital extortion in Africa, cybercrime is also on the rise. Platinum and gold are unlawfully mined, stolen, and sold. Pipelines are targeted, and syndicates demand mining and construction firms sign contracts that ..read more

Maurizio De Lucia is the new chief prosecutor of Palermo. This was established by the Plenum of the Superior Council of the Judiciary with a decision taken unanimously. De Lucia will leave the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Messina in order to take on his new role in Palermo. Maurizio de Lucia “I am grateful to the Superior Council of the Judiciary for an appointment decided unanimously, therefore with the full agreement of all its members. I know Palermo well and I am aware of the serious problems that await me, for this reason I hope in a very short time to be able to meet my new colleagues ..read more

Addiopizzo and the family of Libero Grassi, a Sicilian business who was killed by Cosa Nostra thirty-one years ago after he publicly denounced the extortionists and refused to pay pizzo, recently organized a conference to discuss the state of civil society in Palermo and the attempts by Cosa Nostra to re-establish convivenza and boost its extortion racket. Libero Grassi, murdered by Cosa Nostra after refusing to pay pizzo “Cosa Nostra is fragile and today denouncing extortion has become a normal act and no longer one that requires great courage, as it indeed should be in a civilized country ..read more