FATF

This international conference was convened in recognition of environmental crimes as threat multipliers to an increasingly fractured and vulnerable planet. They pose threats to not only the environment, but also public health, security, political stability, the rule of law, human rights, sustainable development, food security, livelihoods, habitats, cultural heritage, and the global economy and integrity of the international financial system.

This policy brief draws on the five-year experience of the Resilience Fund from 2019 to 2024 to make a compelling case for recognizing and empowering civil society as a critical front-line actor in the fight against organized crime. At a time when transnational organized crime is growing in complexity and reach, and when civic space is shrinking globally, this brief reflects on the tangible impact of community-based responses and outlines a forward-looking agenda for policy, funding and institutional reform.

A year after the launch of the Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission in Haiti, the country’s crisis continues to escalate. Gangs have increased their power and territorial control, and the mission still faces critical challenges in terms of funding, institutional articulation and coordination with local authorities, and a possible resurgence of political opposition in Nairobi.

The Observatory of Illicit Economies in South Eastern Europe aims to enable civil society in the Western Balkans to identify, analyze and map criminal trends, and their impact on illicit flows, governance, development, inter-ethnic relations, security and the rule of law.

The Alabuga Special Economic Zone (SEZ), located in the Republic of Tatarstan in south-west Russia, plays a major role in Russia’s war economy. Thousands of attack and reconnaissance drones are produced at the site for use by the Russian military. Reports in 2023 by independent Russian and Western media raised concerns about exploitative aspects of a recruitment programme connected to the SEZ, known as Alabuga Start. This programme has reportedly relied on underage students from Alabuga Polytech and young migrant women from across the globe to staff its drone production facilities.

GI-TOC has joined the Global Alliance for Peace Operations – a collective endeavour of more than 50 leading think tanks, research institutes and civil society organizations working on UN and regional approaches to peace operations.

The European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) has played a key role in a large-scale operation targeting the smuggling of high-quality counterfeit designer clothing, footwear and accessories into the European Union.

Quasi un milione di capi d’abbigliamento e accessori della moda internazionale, perfettamente riprodotti, sono stati intercettati dai funzionari dell’Agenzia delle Dogane e dei Monopoli di Trieste e dai militari della Guardia di Finanza.

Close cooperation between the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) and Polish national authorities has led to the uncovering of a sophisticated VAT fraud scheme involving goods imported from China into the European Union.

For decades, Morocco has been one of the world’s largest producers of illicit cannabis. Cultivation is deeply woven into the social and economic fabric of the northern mountainous region of the Rif. For communities in remote and underserved areas, the crop has long provided a survival economy in the absence of viable alternatives. Building on this historical association, Morocco has undertaken policy reforms to transform the informal economy into a regulated, state-supervised industry. Although these efforts are an important step towards formalization, with a view to integrating Moroccan cannabis into global supply chains, implementation challenges highlight the complexities of regulating an entrenched informal economy.

The militant Islamist group al-Shabaab has long remained influential in Mogadishu through its sophisticated extortion system, which demands zakat payments —forced charitable tax— and levies on trade and real estate transactions. The group reportedly generates over US$100 million annually, with an estimated one-third of its revenue derived from Mogadishu alone.

Bodies hanging from bridges; beheadings and other brutal executions; assassinations, including of police officers and innocent youths; kidnapping and fear-mongering – the violent acts carried out by criminal groups often resemble those of terrorists. Yet they have been treated differently, both in terms of data collection and criminal prosecution. This could change as a result of President Donald Trump’s executive order designating organized criminal groups as foreign terrorist organizations (FTOs).

Since President Donald Trump’s return to the Oval Office, leaders from across the world have visited the new president. In February, it was the turn of Narendra Modi, India’s prime minister. In the joint statement released by the White House, it was highlighted how the two leaders had committed to strengthen, among other things, ‘law enforcement cooperation to take decisive action against […] organized crime syndicates […] as well as other elements who threaten public and diplomatic safety and security’.

On 7 May 2025, reports emerged that the US was preparing to deport irregular migrants to Libya. While no deportations had occurred as of mid-May, and the US government has neither confirmed nor denied such plans, the potential for expulsions has raised urgent concerns among international observers, particularly regarding Libya’s fragility, human rights conditions and entrenched criminal economies. 

As the conflict in Ukraine approaches a possible turning point, 'Crime and peace: The future of organized crime beyond the Russo-Ukrainian war ' explores the post-conflict risks and transformations that may shape the criminal underworld in Ukraine, Russia and beyond.

Trends, developments and insights into the relationship between criminal economies and instability across wider West Africa and the Sahel.

In the first quarter of 2025, at least 1 617 people were killed in Haiti. As the gangs have tightened their grip over the country, the need for aid is intensifying – more than a million people have been displaced and more than half of the population needs humanitarian assistance, a 9 per cent increase against 2024. Criminal groups have recently launched new offensives, particularly in the Central Plateau and Artibonite regions. The population of these areas risk joining the millions in the capital, Port-au-Prince, who already live under the de facto authority of gangs. 

From 19 to 23 May 2025, representatives of UN member states, international organizations and civil society will gather in Vienna – and in virtual events – for the annual UN Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (CCPCJ), hosted by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), and chaired this year by the Permanent Representative of Mexico to the UN in Vienna.

GI-TOC has joined the Global Alliance for Peace Operations – a collective endeavour of more than 50 leading think tanks, research institutes and civil society organizations working on UN and regional approaches to peace operations.

The European Anti-Fraud Office hosted a dedicated workshop with representatives from the Serbian Ministry of Finance to enhance cooperation in the fight against fraud as well as to improve the use of EU reporting tools, including the Irregularity Management System (IMS).

In 2024, the Fight against Fraud Department reconfirmed its position as national anti-fraud coordinator and trusted partner of the European institutions involved in the fight against fraud, corruption and other illegal activities affecting the financial interests of the EU.

As Ukraine continues to resist Russia’s full-scale invasion, the port city of Odesa presents a paradox: while under frequent aerial assault, many aspects of life appear remarkably normal. This report explores how organized crime has not only survived but thrived in one of the country’s most strategically significant cities.

A major seizure of counterfeit t-shirts and uniforms bound for a high-profile football event was carried out in Spain on Friday, 25 April, thanks to crucial intelligence provided by OLAF.

On 10 April, investigators from the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) joined officers from the Lithuanian Customs Criminal Service (MKT) in a successful raid on a company suspected of violating EU sanctions.

From the distribution of Roman wines across the Mediterranean to the first psychotropic experiments in the wake of the discovery of the Americas, not forgetting the opium laudanum supplied by British apothecaries, there's one common historical thread in all of these stories –the use of the sea as a vector for forbidden and prohibited exoticism.