FATF

The European Anti-Fraud Office’s (OLAF) new Director-General Petr Klement starts his role today.

This report presents the first comprehensive longitudinal survey of lethal political violence in Brazil, documenting patterns of political assassination, attempted assassination and credible death threats over two decades of intense political conflict.

Ecuador’s prison system has undergone a profound transformation over the past decade.

The report examines the activities of Primera Gold DRC SA, a joint venture established in December 2022 between the Congolese government and a UAE-registered company, and which came to a close in 2024. The venture was granted exclusive rights to purchase artisanal gold from South Kivu and was publicly presented as an effort to clean up the artisanal gold sector and stem smuggling to neighbouring countries. Official Congolese figures show that in 2023, Primera Gold exported more than five tonnes of gold worth over US$300 million.

This report examines illegal logging in Chihuahua and the underexplored criminal dynamics of mining in Sonora.

January is not yet over and 2026 is already shaping up to be a remarkable year in geopolitics. The multilateral system is facing spiralling political and financial crises, and the UN in Vienna is no exception. Its Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has been hit by major budget pressure while still absent an executive director since the departure of Ghada Waly in November. Nevertheless, the UNODC has an unrelenting agenda over the coming months, with major policy decisions, political declarations and ongoing processes to be agreed upon, financed and implemented.

A practical resource for individuals, families and communities affected by disappearances linked to organized crime, and for those supporting them.

This report considers particular case studies from the Russian–Finnish border in 2015 and, especially, the Belarusian borders with Poland and Lithuania in 2021, and Russia’s with Finland and Norway in 2023/24. In subtly different ways, these were all examples of attempts to use weaponized migration to bring pressure to bear on the target countries, in the hope of influencing their leaderships by generating division, disruption and costs, both practical and political. They certainly all proved problematic and, although there is scope for serious debate as to whether they were ultimately effective or counter-productive, the consensus appears to be that both Minsk and Moscow were left with the sense that, in the short term at least, weaponized migration remained a viable tool within their ‘hybrid war’ toolbox.

The Colombia–Oman resolution was an important step towards achieving a global consensus on the responsible management of minerals and metals.

The US military offensive on Christmas Day in Nigeria – described by President Donald Trump as ‘a powerful and ​deadly strike ‌against ISIS Terrorist Scum’ – may ultimately achieve the opposite of its intended effect.

If the objective of the US intervention in Venezuela was to reduce the threat posed by organized crime, major challenges still lie ahead.

In China’s luxury goods market, swim bladders from the totoaba fish are sold at prices that rival the cost of gold.

Organized crime is undermining democracy, human rights and public safety, the sovereignty of states, and even international peace and security, and the rule of law itself.

Milxo is a tiny mining settlement in a remote and contested region of north-eastern Somalia that, over the past decade, has become the site of one of Africa’s least-known gold booms.

On 6 January 2026, Chen Zhi, a 37-year-old Chinese-born tycoon, was arrested in Cambodia and extradited to China.

On 27-28 January, OLAF organised the annual meeting of the OLAF Anti-Fraud Communicators Network in Brussels, bringing together over 50 participants from 22 Member States alongside colleagues from EU bodies and institutions.

The European Anti-Fraud Office has coordinated a complex cross-border investigation into the suspected circumvention of European Union sanctions against Russia involving the export of over 760 transport vehicles from the EU, with the assistance of national authorities.

In January 2025, Goma fell to the M23 rebel group, marking a brutal turning point in the protracted conflict in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Goma, the capital of North Kivu province, is a strategic geopolitical and security hub. Its capture by the Rwanda-backed armed group was a stinging setback for the DRC military, its allies and the other international forces deployed in the region, including UN peacekeepers. But it also served to cement an economy of war at the heart of the Great Lakes region, boosting the illicit financial flows that fuel and sustain armed violence in eastern DRC. The rebel-controlled areas facilitate the smuggling of lucrative minerals, including gold and transition metals, across regional borders.

This report examines the intersection of climate change and organized crime in cities. The relationship between these issues is a critical area for policy and programming in governments and multilateral organizations.

This report considers particular case studies from the Russian–Finnish border in 2015 and, especially, the Belarusian borders with Poland and Lithuania in 2021, and Russia’s with Finland and Norway in 2023/24. In subtly different ways, these were all examples of attempts to use weaponized migration to bring pressure to bear on the target countries, in the hope of influencing their leaderships by generating division, disruption and costs, both practical and political. They certainly all proved problematic and, although there is scope for serious debate as to whether they were ultimately effective or counter-productive, the consensus appears to be that both Minsk and Moscow were left with the sense that, in the short term at least, weaponized migration remained a viable tool within their ‘hybrid war’ toolbox.

This virtual event convenes GI-TOC’s Latin America and Caribbean Observatories alongside leading experts and academics to examine the current configuration of illicit economies and organized crime in Venezuela—and what it means for the region and beyond.

OLAF has uncovered serious issues in a number of projects in Hungary funded by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development. These projects aimed to promote tourism and serve the public by providing free access to facilities such as playgrounds, fitness equipment and canopy trails.

According to this study, the Mekong region –particularly Myanmar’s Shan State– is the epicentre of one of the largest and most sophisticated illicit drug economies in the world.

Highly organized cyber fraud in South East Asia is widely run from so-called scam compounds: purpose-built or modified buildings that meet the precise requirements of this criminal industry.