Contents

Tariq Parvez President Advisory Board, NIOC: Former Director General Federal Investigation Agency Fiaz Khan Toru Member NIOC AB: Former Inspector General of Police Zahid Hussain ADVISORY BOARD Member NIOC AB: Eminent journalist particularly specializing in countering terrorism Fasi Zaka Member NIOC AB: Communications expert. To steer the advocacy campaign. Zubair Habib Chairman CPLC Karachi, Member NIOC AB: For community outreach.

Tariq Khosa Director

Muhammad Amir Rana Secretary

Muhammad Ali Nekokara Deputy Director NIOC DIRECTORATE Hassan Sardar Admin & Finance Manager Minutes of the NIOC 5th Advisory Board Meeting

The 5th Advisory Board Meeting of the National Initiative against Organized Crime (NIOC) Pakistan was held at Islamabad Club on Friday, 6 March 2020. The meeting was preceded by luncheon which also entailed introduction to and preliminary discussion around the issues concerning the AB meeting. Some special guests who participated included Inspector General (IG) Islamabad Police Aamir Zulfiqar, Additional Director General (ADG) FIA Ehsan Sadiq, and Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Police Shahzada Sultan, who is currently serving at the National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA). Mr. Tariq Parvez, President Advisory Board, could not attend the meeting due to some pressing family engagement. Mr Fiaz Toru, AB Member, was requested to chair the meeting for which he gave his kind consent. Others who attended the meeting included Zahid Hussain (Member AB), Zubair Habib (Member AB), Fasi Zaka (Member AB), Tariq Khosa (Director NIOC), Amir Rana (Secretary NIOC), Hassan Sardar (Manager Administration and Finance), and Kashif Noon (Consultant). DIG Shahzada Sultan of Nacta also participated on special request. Some highlights of the meting are as under:

• The minutes of the previous [4th] Advisory Board meeting were approved in the meeting.

• NIOC brochure’s printed copy was approved. It was agreed that the 1,000 printed copies would be distributed among all the relevant stakeholders including foreign missions, CSOs and think-tanks. Secretary NIOC Amir Rana was asked to manage the task.

• NIOC Newsletter for February 2020 was reviewed and approved for circulation by PIPS.

• NIOC website was displayed on multimedia. Most said it had been improved considerably. Participants agreed that more professional material would be added to make it purposeful.

• All Advisory Board Members were asked two nominate Experts and Champions of Change among the civil society for approval by NIOC AB in next meeting on Friday, 3 April 2020.

• It was reviewed that 1st International Conference on Organized Crime would be held at Islamabad Club on 13-14 April, 2020. Secretary NIOC Amir Rana will finalize the conference agenda in a few days time. It was agreed that respected journalist and human rights activist Mr IA Rehman will be invited as the Chief Guest. Guest of Honour will be the Norwegian Ambassador in Islamabad. Keynote Speakers at the Inaugural Session would be Mr Moeed Yousaf, Special Assistant to the PM on National Security, Dr Hassan Abbas, Distinguished Professor at Near East and South Asia Institute at the NDU Washington and Mr Tariq Parvez, President NIOC AB. Two sessions on terrorism financing and drug trafficking will be held on 13 April and will be chaired by National Coordinator Nacta and Federal Secretary Narcotics Control respectively. Next day, on 14th April, two sessions will be held on human trafficking and cybercrimes, under the chairmanship of Jeremy Milsom of UNODC and DG FIA Wajid Zia, respectively. Efforts would be made to invite a UK expert on organized crime through the British High Commission Islamabad.

• Drug trafficking paper was approved by AB. It would be sent to GI-TOC for circulation globally.

• The meeting was also informed that two researchers had been hired by NIOC. Jameel Hussain Junejo is preparing a 10-page paper on drug [abuse] situation in Karachi. Asad

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Jamal, an eminent lawyer in Lahore, is writing an analysis paper on cybercrime laws and rules. Both papers are to be finalized by 15 March 2020.

• GI-TOC Discussion on Fragility and Violence was found to be very useful by AB. Kashif Noon, Consultant, was tasked to prepare its summary for discussion during AB Meeting on 3 April and during International Conference on Organized Crime on 13-14 April, 2020.

• Finally, draft of the Analysis Paper on Terror Financing was presented to AB by Consultant Kashif Noon. Very useful discussion was held and feedback and review by DIG Shahzada Sultan of Nacta was appreciated. The Consultant will finalize the Paper after final review by Director NIOC Tariq Khosa and President AB NIOC Mr Tariq Parvez.

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Afghanistan: Taliban’s Actions Will Help Decide Future of IS-K

Brian M. Perkins

As the United States and the Taliban are set to begin a partial truce as part of long-running attempts to strike a peace deal, Afghanistan’s other preeminent militant group, Islamic State Khorosan (IS-K), remains ambitious and still commands an estimated force of around 2,500 fighters (Benar News, February 7). Despite suffering significant losses in its primary base of Nangarhar in late 2019, a large number of fighters managed to escape through Kunar Province or the Spin Ghar mountains and into Pakistan and are looking to regroup. The successful operations conducted by Afghan forces in Nangarhar in 2019 significantly disrupted the group but also illuminated the breadth of IS-K’s appeal and recruitment efforts. Among those captured were fighters from Azerbaijan, Canada, France, India, Maldives, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkey and Uzbekistan (The Hindu, February 11). There has yet to be a large-scale operation against regrouped IS-K fighters in Kunar, and the group is also still present in the north and west in Faryab and Herat Provinces (Tolo News, December 24, 2019). The Taliban was reportedly also involved in the operations against IS- K and had also ramped up operations against the group elsewhere in late 2019. IS-K is no longer the imposing force it was in years past, but it retains a significant core of fighters and is still capable of recruiting new members, including those from outside of Afghanistan. The questions now are whether the Afghan government can, or will, conduct sustained operations against the group and what implications the tentative truce/peace deal with the Taliban will have on IS-K.

The Taliban, as a whole, has been a staunch opponent of IS-K since its arrival in Afghanistan. An increase in attempts to weaken the group have coincided with progress toward peace negotiations, a fact which indicates that the Taliban, too, is concerned about the potential for a peace deal further empowering IS-K. A deal could allow the group to act as a significant spoiler by drawing a large number of disillusioned Taliban members that are against, or do not benefit from, a peace deal. The Taliban has continued these attempts and most recently, on February 8, released a video depicting IS-K fighters surrendering to its members in Kunar (Jihadology, February 8).

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An IS-K resurgence will largely hinge on the Taliban’s actions in the coming months and year. First, the Taliban’s efforts against IS-K have been critical to keeping the group in check, and there are questions as to whether the Afghan forces’ operations in Nangarhar would have been as successful if not for IS-K suffering previous losses at the hands of the Taliban. The Taliban could empower IS-K again if it resumes fighting on the same scale seen in 2019, drawing significant focus and resources away from the fight against IS-K. At the same time, progress toward a peace deal in the absence of significant gains against IS-K could leave the group in a powerful enough position to continue recruitment and the ability to draw in disenfranchised Taliban members at a particularly fragile time. Either way, the Taliban will play a critical role in what the future holds for IS-K.

Pakistan’s presence in grey list negative for banks: Moody’s

ISLAMABAD: Moody’s Investor Service — a New York-based rating agency — on Thursday said that Pakistan’s inability to comply with the global standards on anti-money laundering and terror financing was a credit negative for its leading banks.

“Pakistan’s continued presence on list of jurisdictions under increased monitoring — commonly known as grey list of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is credit negative for its banks,” it said.

On Feb 21, the FATF – an inter-governmental body tasked with setting global framework requirements around anti-money-laundering, counter terror financing and other related threats to the international financial system -- announced that the country would remain on its list of jurisdictions under increased monitoring, along with 17 other countries, after failing to complete a June 2018 action plan by the assigned deadlines.

Pakistan, which has been presenting its progress to the FATF every four months since the agreement of the action plan, will remain on the list until at least June, when the next evaluation will take place. The announcement is credit negative for Pakistani banks because it raises questions about potential additional restrictions relating to banks’ foreign-currency

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clearing services, as well as their foreign operations. Banks’ profitability risks being constrained as a result of increased compliance and operational costs.

The FATF has warned that it will urge member countries to increase their attention when conducting business transactions with Pakistan if the country’s government, regulatory body and other stakeholders of the financial system fail to complete the action plan, which emphasises combating terror financing, by June. Should they fail to do so, international financial institutions could curtail their interactions with Pakistani banks and other financial companies, including terminating correspondent banking relationships.

This in turn would further constrain banks’ ability to generate business and result in higher compliance costs. Improving, but still-weak compliance with global anti-money-laundering and combating terror financing standards both by Pakistani banks and the country’s authorities means that banks still risk losing access to foreign-currency clearing services. Access to foreign-currency clearing transactions, typically conducted through international correspondent banking relationships, is crucial for Pakistani banks because it allows them to process cross-border payments for clients. Clearing in US dollars is particularly important given Pakistan’s high import and export economic activity, as well as the fact that a large proportion of international payments are made in this currency.

That said this risk has so far not crystallised in the jurisdictions that have been placed on the increased monitoring list. A number of domestic banks with foreign operations have been subject to investigations relating to anti-money-laundering/counter terror financing issues that have resulted in penalties, higher compliance costs and, in some cases, the removal of overseas licenses.

Among the banks that Moody’s rate, the US authorities in 2017 investigated Habib Bank Ltd over deficiencies in its risk management framework and violations of anti-money-laundering regulations. The bank consented to pay a penalty of $225 million, surrender its US banking licences and close its New York branch by the end of March.

Similarly, United Bank Ltd wound down its US operations last year, in part as a result of an investigation by the US authorities that identified weak compliance with global anti-money- laundering/counter terror financing standards.

The FATF readmitted Pakistan to its list of “jurisdictions under increased monitoring” in June 2018, at which time the government committed to an action plan based on the FATF’s recommendations around technical compliance and effectiveness. The plan contains 27

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action points aimed at eliminating strategic anti-money-laundering/counter terror financing deficiencies at the financial system level, as well as at the legal, law enforcement, provincial and federal levels.

Among the areas of the FATF’s focus is the availability of tools and the timing required for identifying violations; law-enforcement capabilities and the appropriateness and timeliness of remedial actions such as sanctions and the deprivation of resources; aligning the understanding of anti-money-laundering/counter terror financing risks, information- exchange capabilities and cooperation among local supervisory, law-enforcement and other authorities; and increasing the control and surveillance of cross-border transactions through physical and electronic means.

The final deadline for the completion of the June 2018 action plan has been extended further to June. As of February, Pakistan has largely increased its compliance with 14 of the 27 identified areas, although the overall anti-money-laundering/counter terror financing framework remains below global standards.

Compliance with the remaining 13 action points has also progressed at varying degrees, according to the FATF. Because the list of remaining actions has narrowed, the State Bank of Pakistan has expressed its confidence about Pakistan exiting the grey list in June, the Moody’s noted.

Tech solutions The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has advised financial institutions to use technological solutions for effective screening of designated and proscribed persons and warned that penalties for violations and carelessness regarding anti- money laundering laws have been increased.

SECP Commissioner Farrukh Sabzwari Thursday chaired the anti-money laundering and countering financing of terror (AML/CFT) Compliance Forum organised to deliberate on the progress over the FATF Action Plan.

The regulator also offered its support to the industry to adopt technological solutions and enhance ongoing monitoring of transactions and reporting of suspicious transactions.

Mr Sabzwari stated that Pakistan has demonstrated significant progress towards fulfilling the FATF obligations under the action plan. “But it must continue, the efforts in combating

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money laundering and terror financing by accomplishing the remaining actionable items under ICRG-Action Plan,” he added.

Sabzwari reiterated the SECP’s sequential approach towards enforcement actions related to violations. While the penalty regime began with caution letters and warnings and graduated to financial penalties, the regulator needs to be aware that these penalties were on a lower level.

He warned that repeat offences and gaps in the monitoring mechanism will be dealt with more severity in future.

Published in Dawn, February 28th, 2020

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Rising narcotics use shocks senators

PHOTO: REUTERS

ISLAMABAD: A nearly 500 per cent increase in the number of people using intravenous drugs from the first decade to the second decade of the century shocked lawmakers on Tuesday with the country’s premier anti-drug body calling for the provision of modern equipment, greater monetary and human resources to effectively tackle the influx of drugs in the country.

This was disclosed during a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Narcotics Control which met at the Parliament House on Tuesday with Senator Sardar Muhammad Shafiq Tareen in the chair.

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The committee reviewed the annual public sector development programme for the Ministry of Narcotics Control. Senators were informed that Rs161 million had been allocated for the ministry in the fiscal year 2019-20, while it has consumed around Rs48 million. Asked why such a large sum remains unused with nearly two-thirds of the financial year gone, Narcotics Control Secretary Allah Dino Khawaja explained that the force has yet to pay its utility bills and rent, adding that the remaining sum is expected to be spent before the end of the fiscal year.

Sindh, Centre to combat sale, smuggling of drugs together For the Anti- Narcotics Force (ANF), the committee was told that until December 2019, the force had utilised Rs 1.33 billion of the Rs2.53 billion earmarked for it. Under the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) for the fiscal year 2020-21, the committee was told that 17 projects have been listed.

CPEC a headache for ANF Senator Brigadier (retired) John Williams asked that why a large number of shipping containers entering the country go unchecked before being unloaded on private properties. Senator Nauman Khattak suggested installing trackers and seals on the containers to ensure they are not opened en route.

The ANF director-general pointed out that they have a staff of just 2,900 officers deployed around the country. He added that the flow of containers into the country has increased after the Gwadar Port became operational. He added that it has become nigh impossible to check all containers.

He suggested setting up an ANF Directorate for better monitoring of containers. Further, he said that the force must be provided with modern equipment such as drones for better surveillance. He lamented that donors are no longer supplying forensic items to the force. Responding to a question raised by Senator Khattak, ANF officials said that personnel are usually transferred to it from different forces after a thorough review of their career profiles. Thereafter, this personnel undergo different training programmes and exams before securing a position in the force.

Rising drug use The ANF chief said that as much as 9,000 tonnes of poppies are grown in Afghanistan every year and around 30% of it is smuggled to different parts of the world via Pakistan but only 11% of drugs being smuggled were caught in Pakistan.

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Senator Abdul Qayyum said that he was shocked to learn that some 6.7 million people, including 78% men and 22% women, are drug addicts in the country. The lawmaker added that around 40,000 people between the ages of 15- 65-years start consuming drugs in different forms every year. He added that in 2007, only 90,000 people were using drugs intravenously, but by 2014, this had increased to 0.5 million.

Reviewing the issue of rising drug use at educational institutions, Senator Sabir Shah asserted that drugs are being openly consumed on campuses across the country. He went on to claim that many owners of educational institutions are also involved in the menace. Senator Shah further inquired why is the government not declaring medical tests for students as mandatory.

To a question about raids on drug smugglers, the ANF chief said that they worked with some 32 law enforcement agencies of the country.

To curb the sale and consumption of narcotics, the official suggested handing out severe punishment to drug-pushers. He also refuted reports of setting up an opioid factory in Tirah, adding that there was only one plant which created medicine for treating cancer. Senator Shah suggested that the ANF should target specific areas for drug control and went on say that drugs are being openly used in different areas of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P).

Drug peddling continues despite crackdowns Senator Khurram pointed out that even though ANF’s office was situated near the Hayatabad Industrial Area in Peshawar, nearby areas such as the Hayatabad bridge and a university were full of drug addicts.

He recalled how he had retrieved information about drug peddlers from some addicts in the area but soon after, he started receiving threatening calls.

The committee summoned the law and justice ministry secretaries, the K-P Special Branch’s AIG, education secretary and representative association of private schools at the next meeting to deliberate on the matter in detail.

Meanwhile, ANF officials complained that a national assembly (NA) committee has been holding an ANF Bill for the past two years. The committee summoned a copy of the related bill.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 11th, 2020

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Canada’s financial crimes watchdog is preparing to implement its broad new virtual currency oversight powers ahead of the Financial Action Task Force’s June 2020 deadline.

The Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) will begin more strictly regulating virtual currency companies, transactions and activities following after new rules take effect on June 1, according to a departmental report released in early March. “A major priority in the near term will be the implementation of new regulations arising from recent legislative change” that gave FINTRAC new oversight of the virtual currency space, the agency said in the report. Passed as an amendment to Canada’s criminal finance framework last June, the sweeping powers are “expected” to produce an “enhanced AML/ATF Regime,” in Canada, FINTRAC said in the report. FINTRAC is the Canadian counterpart to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) in the U.S. Some of the highlights include a requirement that companies with $10,000 CAD in crypto activity register as a money services business, which comes with new regulations. Companies must also document sender and receivers’ name, address, birth date, phone number and crypto type for crypto transactions over $1,000 CAD in some instances. More extensive documentation requirements apply to transactions of $10,000 CAD and above. Violations are largely classified as “minor” infractions under the amendments. The virtual currency amendments were Canada’s response to FATF’s blistering 2015-2016 assessment of its virtual currency AML and CFT frameworks as “deficient.” As a member of FATF, Canada is expected to meet certain thresholds. FINTRAC alluded to this “expectation” in its March report, saying “the overall legislative and policy framework must serve Canada's interests while staying attuned to international expectations.” Other countries, and exchanges, are also working fast to get in line before FATF’s June deadline.

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The anti-terror fight

By Tariq Khosa EXACTLY a year ago on March 15, an Australian gunman killed 51 worshippers in Christchurch. The victims included nationals from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Indonesia and Egypt as well as New Zealand citizens. A rookie political leader of a small nation demonstrated qualities of ‘strength and sanity’ while pursuing an agenda of ‘compassion and community’. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern stood out as a ‘pragmatic idealist’ in a field dominated by old men. Her deft handling of the shootings was noted globally.

Here is what she thought of the victims: “Regardless of whether someone had been in New Zealand for a generation or whether or not they moved here a year ago, this was their home, and they should have been safe and they should have been able to worship here … they are us.” Her embrace of New Zealand’s Muslim community stood out in a global environment of divisiveness. Her donning a headscarf while visiting a mosque or condoling with bereaved families “made a plausible case that kindness was a strength, compassion was actionable, and inclusion was possible’’. Within days of the tragedy, she proposed and got passed New Zealand’s first far-reaching gun control legislation.

Ardern set the precedent of never taking the shooter’s name, and her moral leadership forced the media to follow suit. She enlisted the support of world leaders including Emmanuel Macron and Angela Merkel. Only two months after the carnage, they came up with the Christchurch Call, a meeting of heads of state and tech companies “to commit to preventing the spread of online terrorist and violent extremist content”.

Some larger social media networks had already established the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism (GIFCT) to tackle the online influence of the militant Islamic State group and to boost coordination between governments and networks “to study, respond to and prevent extremist and terrorist activity on the sharing platforms”.

Ardern is involved in the expansion of the scope of this initiative as she feels responsible. “That’s not to say this started from zero, it did not. The work that Jordan had done was really critical. And equally the likes of the UK and France. But I do think that the GIFCT will be a fundamentally •different body because of the Christchurch Call,” she told Time magazine recently, whose correspondent praised her for moving “enough chess pieces among the public,

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governments and industry to offer the beginnings of a coherent international response to a problem against which traditional power structures have proved ineffective”.

One must reflect on the 2014 Army Public School, Peshawar, tragedy that left 144 people, including 132 children, dead at the hands of six terrorist gunmen. Grief-stricken parents and families wanted accountability and an investigation into the security lapses in a garrison- guarded area. They wanted exemplary punishment for those who accepted responsibility for the gruesome act. But the security establishment failed to satisfy them. The terrorists’ spokesman who was in custody ‘escaped’ from a safe house in Peshawar recently. The military’s silence speaks volumes.

As a member of a working group of professionals who drafted the Counterterrorism National Action Plan (CT NAP) on Dec 21, 2014, I believe policymakers should rethink the strategy whose short-term gains through kinetic means may not serve the long-term goal of countering violent extremism. A recent study reported a 13 per cent decline in terrorist incidents in 2019 compared to 2018; however, 2019 saw 229 incidents, including four suicide assaults, which claimed 357 lives.

What went wrong? Firstly, there was no political ownership of CT NAP. Our main recommendation for the prime minister to lead this war was omitted. Resultantly, the commander of an armed and strong institution took the lead and we saw the militarisation of our internal security strategy. Apex committees were constituted in the provinces with corps commanders calling the shots. Political •governments and civilian agencies simply followed military doctrine.

Secondly, the political government lifted the six-year moratorium on capital punishment in order to execute convicted terrorists. But a decision was taken to execute some 5,000 convicts on death row in all categories. Some 600 were hanged. Glaring cases of injustice were highlighted. But it was too late. Some people went to the gallows as a result of miscarriage of justice. Did all this act as a •deterrent? I doubt it. It is the certainty and not the severity of punishment that deters criminality.

Thirdly, special military courts were established for speedy trial of terrorists. During their four- year duration, 344 accused were awarded capital punishment in 650 cases decided by 14 such courts; 56 were executed. In November 2018, the Peshawar High Court acquitted several convicts sentenced by military courts on grounds of “malice in law and fact”. The convictions awarded on callously recorded routine “confessional statements” were held to be in violation of the right to a fair trial. The matter is now before the Supreme Court.

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In view of a recent Supreme Court verdict in which terrorism has been redefined and its application restricted to the nature of offences under certain conditions, anti-terrorism courts can be more effective with the provision of a day-to-day trial restricted to a week and the right to be defended by a lawyer guaranteed. Even those suspected of •terrorism deserve due process.

Fourthly, CT NAP has the following provisions for a communication strategy: countering hate speech and extremist material; ban on glorifying terrorism and terrorist groups through print/electronic media; and tangible measures against the abuse of internet and social media for terrorism. Task forces under the IT and information ministers were to propose comprehensive strategies but after dilly-dallying for years, the government recently came up with the Citizens Protection (Against Online Harm) Rules 2020. Oddly, the cabinet approved these rules framed without consultation with concerned stakeholders.

In its manifesto, the PTI had an ambitious plan for tackling terrorism by enforcing NAP, continuing security operations against militants, winning over ‘passive’ militants, and spreading counter-narratives including through madressah reform. Unfortunately, we do not have a national security policy, and the internal security policy approved by the previous government remains unimplemented.

Our rookie prime minister needs to adopt Ardern’s leadership traits and revisit the CT NAP to come up with long-term solutions to counter •violent extremism. The writer is Director of the National Initiative against Organized Crime in Pakistan.

Published in Dawn, March 15, 2020

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#CovidCrimeWatch n°1 | MARCH 2020

The weekly newsletter exploring existing and emerging interactions between COVID-19 and the illicit economy.

#CovidOCWatch is a new initiative by the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime that explores the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on illicit economies across the globe.

Every week we will publish a selection of stories from across the world that examine the relationship between the global health crisis and organized crime. From a slowing down of the drugs trade, to an increase in counterfeit goods, the spread of the virus will have dramatic consequences for the world of organized crime.

The global pandemic caused by the COVID-19 outbreak has, aside from the obvious global health impacts, far-reaching consequences – including on the economies, political systems and social fabric of countries across the world. A concern that drives to the heart of how well states will be able to respond to the pandemic is the role of organized crime and the impact of transnational illicit economies.

Criminal enterprises will find both constraints and opportunities from the disruption caused by the pandemic. In particular, criminal groups will challenge local authorities and state institutions to meet the needs of citizens, including the most vulnerable sections of society. It

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may seem a peripheral issue, or too early to consider such ‘second order’ impacts at the height of a public-health crisis. But as states invoke emergency powers over the economy and security, failure to consider the longer-term implications may prove critical.

For the next 12 weeks, the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime (GI- TOC) will publish a weekly #COVIDCrimeWatch newsletter. Rounding up a selection of news stories from the global press, the newsletter will explore existing and emerging interactions between COVID-19 and the illicit economy. It will also include analysis and investigations drawn from our own GI-TOC field and expert networks.

This week, we share with you our initial policy brief, bringing together all that we are seeing in terms of how criminal networks are reshaping around this disruptive event. We also present the best from the web, exploring some of the ways in which social distancing creates both opportunities and obstacles for organized crime, as well as one welcome consequence of the lockdown imposed in a country with a history of mafia activity.

Mexico’s criminal groups start to feel the pressure

Insight Crime, 18 March 2020 While organized crime in Mexico is most frequently associated with the country’s famous drug cartels, the importance of the counterfeit goods market must not be underestimated. Criminal groups that make vast sums of money by importing counterfeit clothes, jewellery and accessories from China are facing a serious strain on their business model. With Chinese authorities banning air travel into the country, these groups, of which La Unión de Tepito is among the most prominent, are no longer able to secure access to the counterfeit goods. Many businesses that purchase these goods are now threatening to stop paying extortion fees. For groups that rely on both a narrow range of illicit activities and the continuation of international traffic, the coronavirus pandemic may very well constitute an existential threat. Furthermore, as the economy contracts, criminal groups reliant on micro extortion payments – such as the gangs of El Salvador and Honduras, or the mafia groups of southern Italy – may see their incomes constrict severely.

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VIRTUAL ATTACKS go into overdrive

The Conversation, 24 March 2020 Countries all over the world are being targeted by hackers using coronavirus-themed malicious apps and websites. In Australia, at least 94 reports of different coronavirus-related scams have been recorded as more and more people are shifting to remote working, and use computers and networks that are often far less secure than corporate-supplied devices. These attacks, often in the form of malicious apps and websites, or phishing emails, are used to steal personal and financial data from unsuspecting victims.

Cybercrime is a realm of organized crime that has been rising in prominence over the past decade or so, and online criminal activity is increasingly attracting much-needed attention. With more and more people consigned to significant periods of time isolated at home, increasingly reliant on the internet for both work and social contact, we may well see cybercriminals and fraudsters step up a gear. At the same time, as people become increasingly bored, lonely and economically constrained, they may become more attracted to illicit industries (including online child sexual exploitation), more vulnerable to scammers and romance fraudsters, and more likely to seek contraband goods online.

Healthcare systems may not be the only ones to step up recruitment

The Telegraph, 21 March 2020 The Telegraph reports a worrying new trend in the UK, whereby individuals congregate around cashpoints to sell drugs to people who are withdrawing money amid mass panic- buying. These drug dealers reportedly wear medical masks to evade police detection.

When circumstances change, criminal actors adapt – as seen in the stories outlined above. But donning medical masks isn’t the only way in which criminal entrepreneurs may exploit the coronavirus outbreak. With schools all over the world shutting down for the foreseeable future, there is a risk that gangs may embark on a recruitment drive, targeting vulnerable young individuals who are no longer in school. Bored youth who have nothing to occupy them are more likely to shift into criminal opportunism, or even be forced by their families into criminality or exploitation in order to boost household incomes. Blue Dragon, an anti-

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trafficking NGO in Vietnam that is supported by the GI-TOC Resilience Fund, has warned that children being pulled out of school risk being sold into arranged marriages, or made to participate in forced begging or domestic servitude by their families.

Pangolins no longer wanted

Le Temps, 16 March 2020 Until recently, pangolins – thought to be the world’s most trafficked animal – were a prized item in the marketplaces of Libreville. However, with news emerging that pangolins may have played a crucial role in the transmission of COVID-19, the sellers in Gabon’s capital city have lost most of their best clientele – namely Chinese consumers.

While the trade of pangolins has been illegal in Gabon for many years, China – from which the overwhelming majority of the demand for pangolin scales and meat originates – has now banned all trade and consumption of wild animals in an attempt to contain the spread of the virus. If there is one positive to take from the global pandemic, it could be that a long overdue shift in attitudes towards the global wildlife trade may now finally take place, as policymakers recognise the impact of the trade, both licit and illicit, from a biosecurity and public-health perspective. Conservationists and citizens alike have been calling for the wildlife ban to be made permanent. While it is clear that there is sufficient capacity to address illegal wildlife- trade markets, now is the time for China to show it also has the political will.

At the same time, however, poaching and trafficking groups who have earned a healthy profit from catering to the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) trade are reluctant to see that revenue stream dry up. According to our research in Southern Africa, criminal groups are pushing harder than ever to sell rhino, ivory and other endangered species as a miracle cure for the novel virus. Wildlife traffickers in Laos and China are also getting in on the action, peddling fake cures containing rhino horn and other endangered species products.

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Mafia fugitive smoked out of hiding

Huffington Post Italia, 13 March 2020 Mafia fugitive Cesare Cordi experienced the perils of smoking first hand when he was captured by police thanks to the faint glow of a cigarette coming from a small villa, thought to be vacant. The Carabinieri from the Calabrian municipality of Locri tailed a man who was bringing the ‘Ndranghetista supplies, before finding him in the small village of Bruzzano Zeffirio.

With Italy on full lockdown, having overtaken China as the country with the highest number of coronavirus-related deaths, travel is severely restricted. As such, any movement of people is enough to cause suspicion among law enforcement. As entire populations are forced indoors, criminal activity could stick out like a sore thumb. Our GI-TOC networks in the Balkans note a significant reduction in street violence and crime, as police patrols have forced wary criminal groups to put their most visible and nefarious acts on hold.

Advisory for Parents and children during Corona Emergency Cyber Crime Wing Federal Investigation Agency In view of the latest outbreak of Corona Virus, students are currently on their holidays and are likely to spend much of their time on internet surfing.

Possible Risks Cyber Crime Wing, FIA wants you to be aware of the risks of cybercrime which children and youngsters are prone to while they are on the internet. Beware that a few male/ female criminals mask themselves as someone who they are not and then lure youngsters/ children into their trap by making friends with them on social media channels. In doing so they trap children/youngsters into doing objectionable activities which may be filmed and used for pornography against consent. Such criminals may also convince children/youngsters for sharing their extremely private, often nude, pictures with them which they later use to blackmail them with the threat of sharing the same with their family members or the friends.

Preventive Measures Following guidelines can save you from the brunt of agony that being blackmailed ensues: 1. Never share personal information/ private pics / videos with any one on social media. 2. Never accept “friend request” from any stranger

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3. Youngsters should be allowed to use internet only under supervision and in a shared space 4. Never stay silent if you have become victim to a cyber Crime of any sort including blackmailing, Harassment or bullying.

If you become victim to cybercrime Please feel free to call on the helpline (9911) of Cybercrime Wing, FIA or link to the following: https://web.facebook.com/CyberCrimeFIA/ https://twitter.com/cybercrimefia

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