WORLD NEWS FLASH by Kristopher Seals
INFRASTRUCTURE BILL PASSES IN HOUSE: United States
As a much larger bill remains stalled in Congress, another bill, smaller in size but just as important, is on the path to becoming law.
On Nov. 5, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill, which had an interesting life cycle. First, the bill was part of a massive $3.5 trillion package in President Biden’s Build Back Better Plan. However, Sen. Krysten Sinema (D-AZ) forced changes after she declared it to be too expensive and too partisan. Sinema was able to accomplish this thanks to the tiebreaker only majority that Democrats have in the Sinema (any single defection could kill any measure).
Despite negotiations to the $1.2 trillion figure, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi initially refused to bring it to the floor, as she tried to force the whole $3.5 trillion package through, citing the programs in it as “human infrastructure” However, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) then defected, saying that $3.5 trillion was too much. Like Sinema, he too could kill any measure with a simple “No” vote.
The back and forth got more intense as progressive Democrats led by Cong. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) vowed to vote anything less than $3.5 trillion down, as they felt that anything less was not enough.
Finally, after Manchin refused to give in, the House finally cooperated. Although AOC and progressives did make good on their threat to vote against the infrastructure bill, there were enough Republicans in the House who did vote “Yes” to bring it to fruition, after the $3.5 trillion was effectively cut in half.
In the bill, and roads and bridges will be repaired, money will be allocated for transit improvement projects, such as the Portal Bridge in New Jersey, and upgrades will be made to airports, ports, waterways, power and water systems, and even broadband internet.
DOZENS ARRESTED IN DARK WEB BUST: EUROPE
Police forces across the world have arrested 150 alleged suspects involved in buying or selling illicit goods on the dark web as part of a coordinated international operation involving nine countries. More than EUR 26.7 million (USD 31 million) in cash and virtual currencies have been seized in this operation, as well as 234 kg of drugs and 45 firearms. The seized drugs include 152 kg of amphetamine, 27 kg of opioids and over 25,000 ecstasy pills.
This operation, known as Dark HunTOR was composed of a series of separate but complementary actions in Australia, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States, with coordination efforts led by Europol and Eurojust.
Operation Dark HunTOR, stems from the takedown earlier this year of DarkMarket, the world’s then largest illegal marketplace on the dark web. At the time, the German authorities arrested the marketplace’s alleged operator and seized the criminal infrastructure, providing investigators across the world with a trove of evidence. Europol’s European Cybercrime Centre (EC3) has since been compiling intelligence packages to identify the key targets.
This operation, known as Dark HunTOR was composed of a series of separate but complementary actions in Australia, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States, with coordination efforts led by Europol and Eurojust.
Operation Dark HunTOR, stems from the takedown earlier this year of DarkMarket, the world’s then largest illegal marketplace on the dark web. At the time, the German authorities arrested the marketplace’s alleged operator and seized the criminal infrastructure, providing investigators across the world with a trove of evidence. Europol’s European Cybercrime Centre (EC3) has since been compiling intelligence packages to identify the key targets.
As a result, 150 vendors and buyers who engaged in tens of thousands of sales of illicit goods were arrested across Europe and the United States. A number of these suspects were considered as High-Value Targets by Europol.
These arrests took place in the United States (65), Germany (47), the United Kingdom (24), Italy (4), the Netherlands (4), France (3), Switzerland (2) and Bulgaria (1). A number of investigations are still ongoing to identify additional individuals behind dark web accounts.
In the framework of this operation, the Italian authorities also shut down the DeepSea and Berlusconi dark web marketplaces which boasted over 100 000 announcements of illegal products. Four administrators were arrested, and EUR 3.6 million in cryptocurrencies seized.
Europol’s EC3 facilitated the information exchange in the framework of the Joint Cybercrime Action Taskforce (J-CAT) hosted at Europol’s headquarters in The Hague, the Netherlands.
Commenting on Operation Dark HunTOR, Europol’s Deputy Executive Director of Operations, Jean-Philippe Lecouffe, said, “The point of operations such as the one today is to put criminals operating on the dark web on notice: the law enforcement community has the means and global partnerships to unmask them and hold them accountable for their illegal activities, even in areas of the dark web.”
MULTIPLE CHARGES IN SCREENING OPERATION: WORLD
An international operation aimed at strengthening passenger controls at a number of seaports and airports linking North Africa to Southern Europe has yielded 29 arrests for a variety of offenses, including one on terrorism charges.
The individual concerned, arrested in Algeria, was subject to an INTERPOL Red Notice for terrorism activities. An additional 24 terrorism-related hits based on checks in INTERPOL and national law enforcement databases were identified throughout the operation.
Led by INTERPOL with the support of the World Customs Organization (WCO) and Frontex, Neptune III involved law enforcement in five countries – Algeria, France, Italy, Spain and Tunisia – and was carried out during the summer 2021 tourist season.
INTERPOL deployed officers to assist local authorities in screening travelers, cross-checking their data against INTERPOL and national databases. The WCO deployed two officers in Italy and France to assist local Custom services, collected information on all Customs seizures and ensured that data were effectively shared between Customs services through its secure communication platform, CENcomm. Frontex, the European Union’s Border and Coast Guard Agency, deployed officers in Italy and France to assist local authorities in profiling passengers, identifying document fraud and detecting illicit activities.
Tens of thousands of vehicles and passengers cross international borders via maritime routes every year. Traffickers and terrorists regularly take these routes, compromising regional security across Europe and Africa. Operation Neptune III produced the following results:
Arrests: 29 individuals were arrested on charges of terrorism, drug trafficking, vehicle theft, crimes against children, sexual violence, fraud and human trafficking, among other crimes.
Seizures: 17.5 kg of cocaine, with an estimated street value of EUR 1.2 million; More than 20,000 ecstasy pills; 189 kg of tobacco products; Five vehicles (three luxury cars and two motorcycles); One handgun and 29 hunting rifles; Over EUR 260,000 in cash.
“The results of Operation Neptune III show that suspected terrorist and organized crime groups are moving through the same borders as thousands of other passengers each month,” said INTERPOL Secretary General Jürgen Stock.
“However, the results also demonstrate that securing borders through enhanced international law enforcement cooperation presents an opportunity to disrupt terrorist threats and criminal operations,” the Secretary General added.
