NEWS: 67% of UK fraud is ‘cyber enabled’, says NCA

Regulatory Watch News

• 

  80 arrests and more than 37 700 cultural goods seized in major art trafficking bust

  Europol

  May 22, 2025

  The ninth edition of Operation Pandora, an international operation targeting the trafficking of cultural goods, has led to 80 arrests and the seizure of 37 727 items including archaeological pieces, artworks, coins and musical instruments. Codenamed Pandora IX and led throughout 2024, the operation involved law enforcement and customs authorities from 23 countries. It was coordinated by Spain (Guardia Civil), with operational support from Europol, INTERPOL and the WCO through its Regional Intelligence Liaison Office for Eastern and Central Europe.

• 

  Jailed: Scammer fooled 80-year-old man into smuggling class A drugs

  National Crime Agency

  May 22, 2025

  A Nigerian national who duped elderly victims - including an 80-year-old - into smuggling class A drugs has been jailed, following a National Crime Agency investigation. “Callous” Tonny Iheoma Ezeh, 51, convinced innocent drugs mules they were entitled to huge, legitimate windfalls and they had to travel abroad to get paid. Ezeh, who holds Nigerian, Canadian, and Jamaican passports, fooled two German men aged 80 and 67 into carrying methamphetamine hidden in sweets into the UK for onward flights to Hong Kong.

• 

  Treasury Sanctions High-Ranking Members of Foreign Terrorist Organization Cartel del Noreste

  OFAC

  May 21, 2025

  WASHINGTON — Today, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned two high-ranking members of the Mexico-based Cartel del Noreste (CDN), formerly known as Los Zetas.  CDN, one of the most violent drug trafficking organizations in Mexico and a U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO), exerts significant influence over the border region, especially near the Laredo/Nuevo Laredo point of entry. These sanctions underscore our commitment to target CDN and other violent cartels involved in drug trafficking, human trafficking, arms trafficking, and other heinous crimes that are endangering the American people.