Young guns for hire: gangs recruiting children for contract killings

Tale of the Kensal Green Boys [KGB] a street gang and their links to UK-based Turkish organised crime.

Mexican drug cartels muscle in on lucrative movie and music piracy business

More a matter of demanding a cut than actually producing the bootleg DVDs.

Haqqani insurgent group proves resilient foe in Afghan war

Washington Post article on the Haqqani network. "money from trucking, extortion and racketeering. The fighters conduct kidnappings, collect illegal taxes and shake down Afghan shopkeepers for protection fees." They seek to control three of the Eastern provinces of Afghanistan, based in Khost.

Liverpool’s multi-million pound trade in illegal cigarettes from China

Liverpool Echo investigation into illegal cigarette trade in Liverpool. This must be going on across Europe. Note that alcohol is also involved in the counterfeit trade.

China used prisoners in lucrative internet gaming work

If you ever read Solzhenitsyn's "First Circle", there is a novel begging to be written in this story. Chinese prisoners slaving to create virtual reality characters or obtain artefacts to sell online. Gold farming, it is called. Wonder what the true story is and how much has been inverted here for a quick headline. is this cybercrime?
[and if you havent read First Circle, why on earth not?]

Fraudsters cost UK Government £550m in a year

Telegraph article on KPMG report on fraud against public sector by criminal gangs. Links to other articles too.

The rich and powerful in handcuffs: one of the great sights of New York

Comment piece on differing attitudes to crime and punishment in different places at different times.

lawyers no longer to front fraud probes

Big changes coming in UK fraud investigation. Improvement or complete sweeping under carpet? You decide! Let me know in the comments section!

Trafford Council 'horrified' paedophile used library PCs

Allegedly a former member of the Wonderland Club, a paedophile network. How organised is organised crime?

15 held in money laundering probe

Operation Enigma carries out arrests around the UK. Further details will be revealed eventually...It really is an enigma!

Guidelines on DNA samples unlawful

Supreme Cort [as in England and wales] now agrees with European Court that ACPO guidelines are unlawful. scottish system of retention likely to be adopted.
Isnt it time we brought back some form of legal education for ACPO members?

Al Qaida in the midst of fierce succession battle

guardian names Saif al Adel as acting leader. Article questions role of al-Zawahiri. Who knows? I'll see what else is out there.

Cyber-weaponry, virtual battlefields and the changing face of global warfare

We're all experts now..Misha Glenny has a new book out. Guess what it's about!

Wall St. titan Raj Rajaratnam convicted with help from wiretaps, which may get more use in white-collar cases

Ive had difficulties in uploading lately. A number of postings over the last three months dont seem to have made it to the blog, for which I apologise. I will try harder!
There is a feeling that this conviction is a sort of PR sop to those who want to see some financiers punished for the economic crisis. This case began long before the credit crunch and I would expect it to be appealed. The use of wire-tap eveidence is of great significance as it has historically only been used against organised criminals, not against white-collar crime.

UK Treasury facing daily 'hostile, pre-planned' cyber attacks

The first comment sums it up, somehow. The Treasury is doing a good enough job of wrecking the UK economy all by itself. There is no need for cyber-attacks!

2 Former Prosecutors Arrested in Illegal Gambling Probe

The Moscow Times refers to the arrest as part of a "turf War" between the Investigative Committee and the Procurator's Office...Odd! Investigative Committee used to be part of Procurator's Office until relatively recently.

Hedge fund billionaire Raj Rajaratnam is convicted of fraud

This is a big insider trading case. There is no doubt that it will be appealed. Nor is there doubt that there will be Manhattan prosecutions of others, and that there will be implications for the City of London. But, as it says in the article, there is still pressure to bring some prosecutions relating to the financial crash. This was not such a prosecution.

Police buy software to map suspects' digital movements

Its the lack of judicial supervision of the whole process in the UK that worries me, not the existence of the software or the Met's purchase of it

Blurred ines in California's cannabis capital

Correspondent goes to Garberville and finds out very little! But BBC broadcast it anyway.

Mexico's failed war against the drug gangs

So how do you rebuild civil society now? A civil society free of organised crime. Not an easy one to answer.

After Bin Laden: what next for al-Qaida and global jihad?

Jason Burke of the Guardian argues that bin Laden's death implies a diminution in interest in global jihad and a return to local agendas. I will try and find other piece of analysis, in the spirit of undergraduate essay-writing!

The global economy's corporate crime wave

Piece by Jeffrey D. Sachs, Columbia University prof., reminding us of where the problem of corruption originates.

Your blogger on the BBC World Service

Following a totally unexpected interview on the Marketplace Show on US Public Broadcasting, your blogger was interviewed on the BBC World Service on the implications of Osama's death for AlQaeda's financing. The link will work until the end of May 2011.