Ecuador: Police seized 784 blocks of cocaine concealed in a container transporting canned tuna, destined for France. The shipment was intercepted during an operation in the port city of Guayaquil. The cocaine, pressed into brick-shaped packages, bore a parrot-on-branch logo on the front.

Colombia: Authorities intercepted a go-fast boat carrying 568 kg of cocaine hidden in 555 rectangular packages, located 102 nautical miles south of Beata Island following a high-seas pursuit. The vessel, departing from La Guajira and destined for the Dominican Republic, was stopped after exhibiting engine trouble. Three Dominican nationals were arrested.

Costa Rica: In an unusual maritime seizure dominated by marijuana rather than cocaine, authorities intercepted a twin-engine speedboat carrying approximately 2.5 tonnes of drugs, 67 nautical miles off Cabo Matapalo in the South Pacific. The 36-foot vessel was transporting 2,248 kg of marijuana in 4,497 packages and 257 kg of cocaine in 257 packages. Two Colombian nationals were arrested, while officers also seized communications equipment and 19 drums of fuel. Some packages carried markings referencing Mexican drug trafficker Rafael Caro Quintero and Jesús Malverde although no cartel connection has been established. The unusually large marijuana cargo stands out in a maritime trafficking corridor more commonly associated with multi-tonne cocaine shipments.

South Africa: Law enforcement intercepted 250 kg of cocaine at OR Tambo International Airport hidden in 216 blocks across five luggage bags arriving on a flight from Brazil. Over the past 24 months, 116 suspected drug mules have been arrested at the airport, with methods including drugs swallowed or concealed in luggage. In May, authorities arrested a Dutch national heading to Germany with over 40 kg of khat hidden in his bags. Police also arrested a South African man in September with cocaine in his luggage destined for Hong Kong.

Italy: The latest ’ndrangheta shooting in Calabria has renewed concerns over the fragile balance between rival clans in the Sibaritide, where years of relative calm have been interrupted by murders, attempted assassinations and intimidation. The Abbruzzese-Pepe and Forastefano groups have a long history of violent rivalry, with investigators examining whether recent attacks signal the breakdown of an informal truce. In August, Giuseppe Scorza was shot dead by gunmen on a motorcycle, while Domenico Forastefano, father of reputed clan leader Pasquale Forastefano, survived an assassination attempt in October 2025. The latest attack on Damiano Pepe, which killed his wife Silvana Sibarelli, has intensified fears of renewed clan warfare. Despite the ’ndrangheta's growing reliance on financial infiltration, corruption and less visible forms of intimidation, shootings, arson and attacks on businesses remain part of its territorial control.

Spain: More than four tonnes of hashish were seized from a drug stash house in Ayamonte, Huelva, after police discovered an underground bunker concealed beneath approximately 100 loaves of bread. The unusual covering attracted officers’ attention because there were no animals on the property to explain its presence. Inside the bunker, investigators found over 1,000 kg of hashish protected by security measures, including a firearm ready to fire. Additional packages discovered elsewhere on the property brought the total seizure to more than 4,000 kg. Police arrested the property's caretaker as he attempted to transport 600 kg of hashish in a trailer attached to his SUV. Investigators link the facility to a criminal network importing hashish and cocaine through the Huelva coastline using fishing vessels and high-speed narcolanchas, with shipments entering via the Guadiana River before distribution across Europe.

Italy: A PlayStation, television and bed were among the comforts inside a secret bunker where police found Valentino Gionta junior, 35, a leading figure in the Gionta Camorra clan of Torre Annunziata. The grandson of historic clan boss Valentino Gionta had been on the run for 20 days after evading an October 5 arrest operation targeting violent clashes between the Gionta clan and the rival IV Sistema group. Officers discovered the hideout behind a concealed bathroom entrance activated by remote control, with an emergency exit leading into the garage. The bunker was designed to allow Gionta to disappear from sight within a minute. Prosecutors accuse him of directing an armed retaliation against IV Sistema following a May 2025 confrontation outside the Maximall Pompeii shopping centre. This was not his first electronically secured hideout: police arrested him in November 2014 inside another concealed room in Torre Annunziata, when investigators identified him as the clan's acting leader.

Netherlands: Ridouan Taghi, convicted of ordering multiple gangland murders and leading a criminal organization in the Marengo trial, has taken his complaints about prison conditions to the European Court of Human Rights. Taghi, 48, received a life sentence in February 2024 and is appealing the verdict. He has filed 21 complaints concerning his detention at the maximum-security EBI prison in Vught, where he has been held since December 2019. Dutch authorities imposed exceptional restrictions amid intelligence that he continued directing criminal activities from prison, using intermediaries including lawyers, and reports of plans for a violent escape. His communications, family visits and contact with other prisoners have been severely restricted. The European Court has now asked the Dutch government to justify the prolonged isolation and explain whether the measures remain necessary and proportionate under Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Italy: Four bomb attacks in five days across Rome and its metropolitan area have renewed concerns over criminal groups competing for control of drug markets and local businesses. The latest wave includes an explosive device detonated outside a betting shop in Ciampino, an attack on a garage in La Rustica and an explosion targeting the home of a car dealership owner in Castelverde. The violence follows earlier bombings involving businesses and individuals linked by investigators to criminal networks operating in territory historically associated with the Senese clan. Giampiero Cioffredi, regional representative of anti-mafia association Libera, warned that Rome has become a meeting ground for traditional mafia organizations, locally established mafia clans, foreign criminal groups and drug trafficking networks.

Italy: The Guardia di Finanza has executed the definitive confiscation of €300,000 in property belonging to Luigi Raso, 68, a convicted drug trafficker linked to the Mannolo ’ndrangheta clan of San Leonardo di Cutro, Calabria. The assets comprise a building in Isola Capo Rizzuto divided into three residential and commercial units. Raso was convicted in the Malapianta investigation, which targeted the Mannolo clan’s drug trafficking operations, receiving a final sentence of eight years and eight months. He also received a separate seven-year, four-month sentence for usury and extortion aggravated by mafia methods. Investigators documented threats against a victim between 2014 and 2019, including intimidation intended to force the withdrawal of accusations after Raso’s arrest. Financial investigations uncovered substantial property renovation investments disproportionate to his declared income. Raso has been placed under three years of special surveillance with residency restrictions.

Thailand: Customs seized 469 African elephant tusks weighing 3.04 tons, along with 66.2 kg of tusk fragments, 0.18 kg of elephant tail hair, and a lion carcass hidden in two shipping containers at Laem Chabang port. The contraband, originating from Zambia, was concealed inside 32 processed wood blocks coated with paraffin wax to obstruct X-ray detection and mixed among 536 wood blocks totaling 56 tons. The operation relied on intelligence from the Wildlife Justice Commission and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. DNA sampling was conducted to determine the tusks’ origins. The elephant tail hair was likely intended for talisman production.

Australia: Three people have been charged over the importation of 120 kg of cocaine concealed inside two cabinets shipped from Greece to Melbourne. Australian Border Force officers detected irregularities in the consignment on October 9, with X-rays revealing 120 packages of suspected cocaine wrapped in Euro-branded packaging.

Paraguay: Undercover police intercepted a red Scania truck in Mariano Roque Alonso carrying between 16,000 and 20,000 liters of ethyl acetate, a chemical precursor to cocaine, hidden in blue barrels under sand.

Argentina: Raúl Alberto Cuello, alias “Tuerto Cacho”, one of Córdoba's most notorious drug traffickers, has been arrested again following a major operation targeting his alleged criminal organization. Cuello, who was previously arrested in 2018 and sentenced to five years in prison for drug trafficking in 2021, was among 19 suspects detained during 52 coordinated raids across five neighborhoods of Córdoba. The Anti-Narcotics Police Force (FPA) seized 47,013 doses of cocaine, 1,119 doses of cannabis, 12 firearms, a ballistic vest, four cars, three motorcycles and cash in Argentine pesos and US dollars. The Córdoba Public Prosecutor's Office described Cuello as one of the city's most significant drug traffickers.

Colombia: A multinational anti-drug operation involving Colombia, the Dominican Republic and the US resulted in the interception of a go-fast boat carrying a reported 555 kg of cocaine and the arrest of three suspects. According to Colombian authorities, the Colombian Air Force used aerial intelligence and surveillance to detect the suspicious vessel, track its movements and provide information that enabled the Dominican Navy to intercept it at sea.

USA: Willinton Henao Gutiérrez, alias “Mocho Olmedo”, a leader of the FARC dissident group Frente 33, was extradited from Colombia to Miami on October 22 to face federal cocaine trafficking and money laundering charges. US prosecutors accuse the 45-year-old of participating in a conspiracy involving at least 5 kg of cocaine between September 2021 and August 2022, with operations spanning Colombia and South Florida. His extradition had been suspended in 2025 because of his role as a representative in peace negotiations under former Colombian President Gustavo Petro. The new Colombian government subsequently authorized his transfer. Henao also faces allegations in Colombia involving killings, forced displacement and the recruitment of minors during the armed conflict in Catatumbo. He was extradited alongside six other suspects, including alleged associates of the Gulf Clan and Tren de Aragua criminal organizations.

South Africa: Police discovered a suspected clandestine drug laboratory in Ramokokastad, seizing 20 bags of drug material totaling approximately 800 kg, alongside various chemicals, generators, gas cylinders, stoves, cooking pots, and equipment used in drug production. The site featured three drying areas and a cooking bay. Preliminary evidence points to the manufacture of Mandrax and crystal methamphetamine, though the substances await forensic analysis. Four suspects, two women aged 71 and 24, and two men aged 19 and 52, were arrested, while a fifth suspect remains at large.

UK: Five men, including two former British Army soldiers, were sentenced to prison on October 23 for smuggling 425 kg of cocaine into Britain aboard the fishing boat *New Horizon*. The drugs were recovered from the English Channel in June after being dropped at sea in GPS-marked packages. The crew brought the cocaine ashore at Sovereign Harbour in Eastbourne, where it was unloaded using a forklift and flatbed truck before National Crime Agency officers intervened. Former soldiers Alan Colquhoun and William Donohoe, who helped organize the operation, received 16 years each. Ian Smith was sentenced to 12 years, Daniel Ruffell to eight years, and Jacob Cronin to six years and eight months. Investigators said the smugglers were acting on instructions from an international organized crime network, with the two organizers using the aliases “Navigate” and “Bruce Wayne”. All five pleaded guilty.

Spain: Irish drug trafficker John Gilligan, 74, who was acquitted of ordering the 1996 murder of investigative journalist Veronica Guerin, faces a possible 11 years and three months in prison over a drug laboratory at his Costa Blanca villa. Spanish prosecutors are seeking eight years for drug trafficking, two and a half years for illegal firearm possession and nine months for criminal gang membership, plus a €120,000 fine. Gilligan was arrested in December 2024 during Operation Overlord, when police raided his Orihuela Costa home and discovered ketamine, cocaine, cannabis, drug-processing equipment and a modified Mondial 6mm revolver concealed in a wall. Investigators accuse him of supervising a drug-manufacturing and distribution operation spanning Alicante and Murcia. Two North Macedonian brothers will stand trial alongside him. Gilligan previously served a lengthy prison sentence in Ireland for major cannabis trafficking. No date has yet been set for the Spanish trial.