This briefing provides a snapshot of anti-money laundering and terrorist-finance threats within the context of the COVID19 pandemic. It has been sourced from confidential debriefs of UNODC law enforcement, governmental, NGO, academic, media, open-source and private sector partners around the world during early April 2020.

This briefing provides a snapshot of cybercrime threats within the context of the COVID19 pandemic. It has been sourced from confidential debriefs of UNODC law enforcement, governmental, NGO, academic, media, open-source and private sector partners around the world during early April 2020.

The relationship between catastrophes and organized crime is not straightforward, but past disasters can offer some clues. Especially in contexts marked by high levels of corruption, criminal groups reportedly have exploited crises to carry out extortion, embezzlement, diversion of aid, and other activities.

The report provides an overview of how criminals adapt their misdeeds to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is based on information Europol receives from the EU Member States on a 24/7 basis and intends to support Member States’ law enforcement authorities in their work.

A number of criminal groups across Latin America are ordering ceasefires and exerting control over local communities as fears of the coronavirus sweep across the region, raising questions about how these groups will use this crisis to further their legitimacy and power.

Latin American governments have implemented some of the swiftest measures in the world to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus. El Salvador closed its borders to foreign travelers and imposed a national quarantine on March 12, a full week before the country registered its first case of COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus. And on March 15, Peruvian President Martín Vizcarra suspended the constitutional right to free movement and deployed the military to enforce mandatory social distancing and arrest thousands who violated the restrictions. Although two of the region’s largest states—Brazil and Mexico—have resisted lockdowns and dismissed the danger that the virus poses, other major countries, such as Argentina, Chile, and Ecuador, were among the first in the Western Hemisphere to close schools and impose nationwide curfews.

The mafia is like the coronavirus—it will get you wherever you are.

If transnational organized crime had its own stock market, it would have taken a serious beating this month like the world’s legitimate stock exchanges have suffered. Sealed borders are not exactly helpful for smuggling-supply chains of any type of contraband.

The COVID-19 crisis has heightened the dangers posed by the global trade in counterfeit pharmaceutical products. Serious health and safety issues arise when people order fake medicines online.

To help governments combat the trade in fake medicines, and the OECD and the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) have joined forces to provide policy makers with solid empirical evidence about the value, scope and trends of the trade, which causes significant economic damage as well as risks to health and safety.

During the unprecedented health emergency caused by the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the health and safety of our communities is DEA’s top priority.  DEA is responding appropriately to ensure Americans continue to have access to necessary medications and controlled substances.  DEA’s efforts include supporting prescribing practices that limit exposure, enabling uninterrupted access to practitioners, and safeguarding a consistent and reliable drug supply.

Counterfeit facemasks, substandard hand sanitizers and unauthorized antiviral medication were all seized under Operation Pangea XIII, which saw police, customs and health regulatory authorities from 90 countries take part in collective action against the illicit online sale of medicines and medical products.

The operation resulted in 121 arrests worldwide and the seizure of potentially dangerous pharmaceuticals worth more than USD 14 million.