On 27 May, Europol coordinated a Referral Action Day (RAD) on minors’ exploitation and radicalisation online.
More than 2 000 links pointing to jihadist and right-wing violent extremist and terrorist propaganda targeting minors were referred during the action day. The referral day took place only a few weeks after Europol launched a new Operational Taskforce to tackle the rising trend of recruiting young perpetrators into serious and organised crime. Recent data provided to Europol reveals that minors are now involved in over 70% of criminal markets. Protecting children from being recruited and exploited by criminal networks is one of Europol’s key priorities.
Read more…
Source: Europol
Sign up for the Counter-IED Report Newsletter
The latest news and insights delivered right to your inbox
Related:
- California: 4 charged with plotting New Year’s Eve attacks
December 15, 2025
Federal authorities said Monday that they foiled a plot to bomb multiple sites of two U.S. companies on New Year’s Eve in Southern California after arresting members of an extremist anti-capitalist and anti-government group. The four suspects were arrested Friday in the Mojave Desert east of Los Angeles as they were rehearsing their plot, First ...
- Somalia: Local clan militias kill al-Shabaab fighters in operation near Beledweyne town
December 12, 2025
Local clan militia forces known as Ma’awisley have killed several al-Shabaab militants during a military operation in the Dhoqor area, near the town of Beledweyne in the Hiiraan region, on Thursday. According to local sources, the operation was carried out by three militia members who also seized weapons belonging to two of the killed al-Shabaab fighters. ...
- Massachusetts: North Shore man had explosive materials, gun equipment in apartment
December 12, 2025
A Massachusetts man was arrested Tuesday for allegedly stockpiling materials used to create explosive devices at his apartment in Salem, Massachusetts. Patrick Gordon, 42, was arraigned in Salem District Court on charges of possession of an incendiary device and possession of an assault weapon. Investigators said large quantities of fuels and oxidizers used to make explosive ...
- Nigeria: Police Service Commission in collaboration with Nigeria Police Force seeking to recruit 50,000 Police Constables
December 11, 2025
The Police Service Commission (PSC), in collaboration with the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) is pleased to announce the commencement of recruitment of Fifty Thousand (50,000) Police Constables into the Nigeria Police Force, as directed by His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR. Following this Presidential directive aimed at strengthening community policing, enhancing internal security and expanding ...
- Sahel: Boko Haram’s intelligence networks fuel its deadly resurgence
December 11, 2025
Since launching its Camp Holocaust offensive at the beginning of 2025, Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) has carried out over 200 attacks, killing at least 500 people. And Jama’tu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati wal-Jihad (JAS), excelling in predatory offensives and kidnappings for ransom, shows increased capacity for bold attacks against military posts. These offensives by the ...
- Hawaii: Maui man sentenced to 40 months for possessing explosive powder
December 10, 2025
Jess Kiesel Lee, 43, of Kula, Maui, was sentenced last week by US District Judge Jill A. Otake to 40 months of imprisonment followed by three years of supervised release for possessing, as a convicted felon, explosive powder. The announcement was made today by United States Attorney Ken Sorenson. According to court records, Lee set off ...
- Ireland: Viable explosive device and €18,000 in drugs seized in Limerick
December 9, 2025
Gardaí attached to the Limerick Divisional Drugs Unit conducted a search operation at two residential properties in Talbot Avenue, Prospect, Limerick on Monday afternoon, December 8th, 2025. The operation led to the seizure of drugs and drug paraphernalia with an estimated street value in excess of €18,000. During the search of the rear garden of one ...
- Mexico: Car bomb targeting community police station kills 6 in Michoacán
December 8, 2025
The explosion of a car bomb outside a community police station in the town of Coahuayana, Michoacán, on Saturday killed six people, including at least three police officers. Michoacán Attorney General Carlos Torres Piña reported on Sunday that the death toll had risen to six from an earlier report of five fatalities. He reported that seven ...
- Europol: New report explores use of robotics and unmanned systems in the fight against crime
December 8, 2025
The integration of unmanned systems into crime is already here, and we have to ask ourselves how criminals and terrorists might use drones and robots some years from now. Just as the internet and smartphones presented significant opportunities as well as challenges, so will this technology. Our new report by Europol’s Innovation Lab explores the future ...
- Northern Ireland: Viable pipe-bomb found as homes evacuated in West Belfast security alert
December 8, 2025
A number of homes were evacuated following the discovery of a pipe-bomb in West Belfast. Emergency services are currently at the scene in the Areema Drive area of Dunmurry. A pSNI spokesperson said: “Our officers attended the scene, along with ammunition technical officers, who examined the device. It was discovered to be a viable pipe bomb ...
- Nigeria: Authorities secure the release of 100 kidnapped students
December 8, 2025
After more than two weeks in captivity, 100 students kidnapped from their school in Nigeria have been released. On November 21, more than 300 hundred people, most of them students, were abducted from St Mary’s School in Papiri, in northern Niger state. Fifty students escaped almost immediately but the others have been held until now. According ...
- Paskistan: Jaffar Express attack averted in Balochistan’s Nasirabad
December 8, 2025
Security forces foiled an attempt to target Jaffar Express by recovering a bomb planted on a railway track in Nasirabad district on Saturday. Police officials said unidentified individuals had planted an improvised explosive device (IED) on the track in the Nuttal area of Nasirabad. Upon receiving information about the device, police and Frontier Corps personnel rushed ...
- Somalia: AUSSOM roots for coordinated global support
December 7, 2025
AUSSOM Head Amb. El Hadji Diene joined global leaders at the Doha Forum to push for predictable, coordinated international support for Somalia’s security, stabilization, and state-building efforts under the new AU-led mission He also highlighted essential enabling capabilities needed for mission success — including aviation assets, medical evacuation support, counter-IED expertise, engineering units, and intelligence, surveillance, ...
- Virginia: FBI arrests man in Jan. 6 DC pipe bomber investigation
December 4, 2025
The FBI arrested a Virginia man on Thursday in its almost five-year investigation into who planted pipe bombs near the Republican and Democratic National Committee headquarters the night before the 2021 US Capitol riot. The bureau believes the man, 30-year-old Brian Cole Jr. from Woodbridge, Virginia, compiled bomb-making supplies for months before leaving the viable explosive ...
- Florida: Brevard County Sheriff, Palm Bay Police Announce Massive Seizure of Illegal Substances, Weapons, and Explosives
December 4, 2025
The Brevard County Sheriff’s Office, working with the Palm Bay Police Department, the DEA, ATF, and several federal task force partners, announced the arrest of 26-year-old Maxwell Horvath after a major operation uncovered an extensive cache of illegal weapons, explosive materials, and what federal authorities say is the largest seizure in the nation of a ...
- Connecticut: Decomposed body and explosives found inside residence after standoff
December 4, 2025
A decomposed body and several explosives were discovered inside a home following an hours-long standoff with a man who had barricaded himself in the residence and exchanged gunfire with law enforcement in Connecticut, according to authorities. Stamford Police responded to the Oaklawn Avenue home on Tuesday morning after a state marshal called 911 while attempting to ...
- UK: Men arrested over suspected explosives offences as major incident declared in Derby
December 4, 2025
A major incident has been declared and 200 homes evacuated after two men were arrested on suspicion of explosives offences in Derby. Derbyshire Police carried out a warrant at a property in Vulcan Street, acting on intelligence about materials at the address. Two men, one in his 40s and another in his 50s, who are Polish ...
- Illinois: Three explosive devices found in Rockford home
December 4, 2025
Rockford police said they found three explosive devices in a home Wednesday. Police responded to the home in the 1600-block of North Church Street, after being alerted to possible explosive devices there. When the bomb unit arrived, they found the three devices, which were removed and will be safely disposed of, police said. Joshua Kelce, 29, ...
- Philippines: Bomb threats expose critical shortage in police EOD personnel
December 3, 2025
A surge of bomb threats across Western Visayas has exposed a worrying security gap: the region is being protected by only 61 Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) personnel, a number police officials concede is dangerously insufficient as incidents continue to escalate. Police Regional Office 6 (PRO-6) director Police Brigadier General Josefino Ligan said the shortage has forced ...
- U.S. Department of Justice: Afghan Citizen Federally Charged for Posting Threats to Build Bomb and Kill Americans
December 2, 2025
Mohammad Dawood Alokozay, 30, a citizen of Afghanistan residing in Fort Worth, Texas, has been federally charged for threatening to build a bomb, conduct a suicide attack, and kill Americans and others, in a video shared on TikTok, X, and Facebook. A screenshot of a social media post that shared Alokozay’s Nov. 23 statements is ...
- South Africa: Woman arrested with explosives intercepted on route to Hartbeespoort Dam
December 1, 2025
Atteridgeville SAPS has made an arrest when officers apprehended a woman with explosives travelling to Hartebeespoort. The arrest came on November 29 at around 09:00, when police on crime-prevention patrols spotted a suspicious Mercedes-Benz Sprinter travelling on the R511 in the direction of Hartbeespoort Dam. The vehicle was stopped, and the people inside were asked to step ...
- India: Five suspects detained after Bhubaneswar bomb attack
December 1, 2025
A bomb blast near Bhubaneswar’s KV-3 triggered a major probe as police and the NIA detained five suspects, recovered explosive materials, and heightened security amid rising concerns over local safety and inadequate patrolling. The Commissionerate Police-Bhubaneswar on Sunday detained five persons in connection with the bomb attack that recently shook places near Kendriya Vidyalaya-3 (KV-3) in ...