From the Independent: Its many fans call it black gold, and with good reason. The price of wild caviar has shot up by 60 per cent over the past 12 months, prompting a smuggling boom that has thrown the survival of sturgeon into doubt. The illegal trade in the little black eggs is worth an estimated [...]

A 29 year old man died while rebuilding a smuggling tunnel between Gaza and Egypt. From the AP: The tunnel had been shut down several days earlier by Egyptian security officials, and the diggers had returned to try to reopen it. Palestinian smugglers have increasingly used tunnels to bring weapons and contraband goods from Egypt into Gaza since [...]

The Washington Post reported on the how online music community imeen.com went from being labeled a pirate organization to a marketing tool for Warner Music. From the Washington Post: For many music-oriented Web start-ups, a copyright lawsuit can be a death sentence. But for Imeem, getting sued by one of the biggest record labels played a pivotal [...]

The BBC reports on the gas smuggling business in Bolivia. From the BBC News: Government subsidies mean Bolivia has a low retail price for oil - about 50 US cents a litre. Those subsidies have boosted the smuggling business, as the price of diesel oil in border countries such as Brazil and Peru, are up [...]

From Reuters: Take a second look at that signed Picasso print you bought on eBay.A ring of art counterfeiters has sold thousands of prints since 1999 bearing the forged signatures of Picasso, Miro, Dali and other famous artists to buyers around the world. “Thousands of people will learn they … bought a fake,” said Chicago-based U.S. Attorney [...]

The New York Times has a story about sexual blackmail committed by US immigration agents. No problems so far, the immigration agent told the American citizen and his 22-year-old Colombian wife at her green card interview in December. After he stapled one of their wedding photos to her application for legal permanent residency, he had just [...]

In a continuing sign of the worsening drug trade in Mexico, a police chief is seeking asylum in the United States due to the lack of safety he feels in the country. From the AP: Emilio Perez, the chief of Palomas, Mexico, showed up at the international port of entry in Columbus, N.M., late Tuesday, saying his [...]

From the AP: The smuggling of stolen antiquities from Iraq’s rich cultural heritage is helping finance Iraqi extremist groups, says the U.S. investigator who led the initial probe into the looting of Baghdad’s National Museum.Marine Reserve Col. Matthew Bogdanos claimed both Sunni insurgents such as al-Qaida in Iraq and Shiite militias are receiving funding from the [...]

Dallas Morning News Columnist Jim Landers writes that the illegal drug market in currently in a recession. From his column “It’s a recession”: Here’s a recession that’s welcome. The criminal enterprises that sell illegal drugs are seeing less profit, and some are losing money, according to the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime. Drug abuse is down dramatically in [...]

American Michael Mastromarino has pleaded guilty of running a body brokering busy where he made several million dollars. From the BBC News: Medical supplies boss Michael Mastromarino made millions from removing body parts from corpses and selling them for transplant illegally. One of the bodies plundered was that of famous BBC broadcaster Alistair Cooke. Thousands of people received body [...]