The former Drug Czar in Mexico was arrested on suspicion that he accepted $450,000 a month from drug smugglers. From CNN: Mexican authorities have detained the country’s former drug czar on suspicion that he may have accepted $450,000 a month in bribes from drug traffickers, Mexico’s attorney general said Friday. Noe Ramirez Mandujano was in charge from 2006 [...]

The largest every crackdown on wildlife smugglers in Africa arrested 57 people. From the BBC: More than one tonne of ivory products has been seized in Africa’s largest-ever international crackdown on wildlife crime. The operation, co-ordinated by Interpol and the Kenya Wildlife Service, led to the arrest of 57 illegal traders across five African nations. The haul also included [...]

White extremists groups are upset over the election of Barack Obama as US President. From the LA Times: Barely three weeks since America elected its first black president, noose hangings, racist graffiti and death threats have struck dozens of towns across the country. More than 200 such incidents — including cross burnings, assassination betting pools and effigies of [...]

The New York Times writes about the killing of an Israeli Mobster last week. From the NY Times: The Alperon hit had dominated the news for days. A narrow strip of a country, Israel has a limited pool of celebrities. So when Mr. Alperon, referred to by many as Israel’s Tony Soprano, was killed at 54, the [...]

The United Kingdom is facing an increase in poaching as more and more people are killing animals and other forms of meats due to the rising costs of food. From the Independent: Police in rural areas across Britain are reporting a dramatic increase in poaching, as the rise in food prices and the reality of recession increases [...]

Loan sharks in Italy are booming with business as people take out loans at high rates to deal with the economic downturn. From the Chicago Tribune: The worldwide economic downturn has opened the door for loan sharks to burrow ever deeper into Italy’s vulnerable economy by preying on businesses that need quick cash and credit, according to [...]

New laws proposed by UK officials aims to strengthen the countries anti-corruption laws. From the AP (via Google News): Employers who turn a blind eye to corruption face up to 10 years in jail as part of a radical overhaul of Britain’s bribery laws proposed by the British Law Commission on Thursday. The commission, the government’s law reform [...]

A Vietnamese diplomat was caught by a news crew smuggling rhino horns in South Africa. From Bloomberg News: ietnam recalled a diplomat from its embassy in South Africa after a television program allegedly showed her trafficking rhino horn, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The employee was filmed by the South African Broadcasting Corporation talking to an [...]

A new law in the United Kingdom would give out stronger penalties to men who knowingly have sex with women were are trafficked. From the Guardian: New prostitution laws to be set out today will mean a plea of ignorance is no defence for men facing prosecution for buying sex from a woman who has been trafficked [...]

As pirates continue to hold hostages off the coast of Somalia, the process to pay out ransoms remains a tricky business for those paying. From the Guardian: The lesson from recent years in the Gulf of Aden is that piracy pays, and it is a lesson that has not been lost on the pirates. Piracy is big business [...]