Ecuador: One dead after vehicle explodes outside shopping mall

At least one person was killed when a pick-up truck exploded outside a shopping mall in Ecuador’s largest city, Guayaquil, on Tuesday evening local time. Ecuador’s Interior Minister John Reimberg said police had found explosive devices inside the remains of Read More …

Ireland: Explosive device, cocaine and thousands of euro seized from Limerick halting site

An explosive device, cocaine, crack cocaine and €5,500 in cash was recovered as gardai swooped on a Traveller site in Limerick. As part of ongoing investigations into the activities of an organised criminal group, Gardaí from the Limerick Crime Unit, Read More …

US military kills 11 in strike on alleged drug boat tied to Venezuelan cartel

The United States conducted a deadly military strike against an alleged drug boat tied to the cartel Tren de Aragua, President Donald Trump said Tuesday. The US president said 11 people were killed in the strike in “international waters.” Secretary Read More …

Colombia: Drones, Fear, and a Buzz That Kills

On a flickering surveillance monitor, two men watch as a speck in the sky releases its payload—homemade, crude, and lethal. Below, civilians scatter before the explosion blooms. This isn’t footage from Ukraine or Gaza. This is Colombia. Armed groups have Read More …

Colombia: Explosives-laden drone shots down helicopter eradicating coca crops in Antioquia

In a rural area of Antioquia, about 150 kilometers north of Medellín, a drone carrying explosives brought down a Colombian Aerospace Force (FAC) helicopter this morning. Although the number of fatalities has not yet been confirmed, reports indicate that at Read More …

Haiti: Two police officers killed after weaponized ‘kamikaze’ drone explodes

Two Haitian police officers were killed and six others injured after a weaponized drone launched by a gang-fighting task force exploded in the hills above Port-au-Prince, near where an Irish missionary and several others were abducted by armed gangs. The Read More …

U.S. warships to patrol international waters around Venezuela as Trump vows to stop cartels

The U.S. military has sent destroyers and thousands of Marines toward Venezuela as President Donald Trump doubles down on deadly drug cartels, according to reports. At least three Aegis guided-missile destroyers — USS Gravely and USS Jason Dunham among them Read More …

UNODC: Organized crime dynamics in the context of war in Ukraine

Since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation in February 2022, the political economy of Ukraine has been profoundly transformed. The aggression affected both licit and illicit trade routes, disrupted criminal organizations, and spawned new forms of informal Read More …

Mexico has no evidence linking Venezuela’s Maduro to drug cartel

The president of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum, has denied that her government has any evidence linking Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro to the Sinaloa Cartel, a criminal network based in her country. Sheinbaum’s statements on Friday were prompted by an announcement one Read More …

U.S. Department of State: Reward Offer Increase of Up to $50 Million for Information Leading to Arrest and/or Conviction of Nicolás Maduro

The Department of State and the Department of Justice are announcing a reward offer increase of up to $50 million under the Narcotics Rewards Program (NRP) for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of Nicolás Maduro for violating U.S. Read More …

Mexican cartels using Ukrainian frontline to learn more about drone warfare

Mexican cartel operatives are understood to have joined Ukraine’s frontline so that they can learn advanced drone training to deploy against rivals and US security forces back in their homeland. Ukraine’s counterintelligence service confirmed it was currently investigating the potential Read More …

Mexico: Former Jalisco cartel member details use of explosive drones by elite unit ‘Fuerzas Especiales Mencho’

In a recent interview, a former member of the Cártel Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG) described the recruitment and training process, as well as the operations within one of the cartel’s elite units that serves Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, also known as Read More …

Sweden: Five explosions reported in Malmö over the past week

Malmö, Sweden has been hit by a wave of bombings – at least five explosions have occurred during the past week. Several residential areas have been damaged, but no one has been arrested yet. Police suspect the incidents are linked Read More …

Mexico: Criminal groups are using drone bombings to displace indigenous communities in Northwest

In recent months, more than a dozen Indigenous communities in northwest Mexico have been violently displaced from their lands by criminal organizations. Drawn by the promise of gold and other valuable minerals, these groups have escalated their tactics—using drones armed Read More …

Colombia Seizes Remote-Controlled Narco-Submarine Equipped with Starlink Antenna

Colombia has seized a remote-controlled, unmanned narco-submarine, designed for autonomous operations and equipped with a Starlink antenna. According to local authorities, it belongs to local Gulf Clan (Clan del Golfo) drug cartel and was capable of transporting 1.5 tons of Read More …

Netherlands: Police arrest eight “sovereign citizens”, seize guns, explosives

Dutch police have arrested eight people suspected of belonging to an “anti-institutional” criminal network that was allegedly preparing to use violence against the authorities. The suspects are so-called “sovereign citizens” — individuals who reject the authority of the state and Read More …

Illicit Innovation: Latin America Is Not Prepared to Fight Criminal Drones

The scene is by now all too familiar for those acquainted with coverage of modern war. A bird’s-eye view frames two figures ambling about below, then charts the path of an improvised explosive charge as it tumbles down, impacting with Read More …

Malta jury sentences 2 men to life in prison for supplying bomb that killed journalist

Two men were sentenced to life in prison Tuesday after being convicted of complicity in the murder of Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. Jamie Vella and Robert Agius were accused of supplying the bomb that killed Caruana Galizia. They received Read More …

Mexico: Four cartel suspects killed during chase in the municipality of Frontera Comalapa days after ambush killed 5 officers in same area

Police in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas and federal forces killed four suspected criminals on Sunday during a chase in an area bordering Guatemala, the local government said. The incident unfolded just days after five police officers were killed Read More …

Mexican Cartel Tactical Note #53: Recent Improvised Landmine attacks in Michoacán and Jalisco

On 27 May 2025, eight Guardia Nacional (GN) personnel assigned to the Fuerza de reacción inmediata (FERI), an immediate reaction special force team, were killed when their armored vehicle ran over an artisanal landmine, in Los Reyes, Michoacán. The officials Read More …