Very depressing article from the New York Times on “paco”, a chemical laden version of cocaine for the poor and the unemployed. Takes you back to Merton.

And about time too! Whilst it is acceptable to have such a listing process, there has to be a procedure for proving a suspect’s innocence and getting people removed from the list. There also has to be transparency over the process of being placed on the list. EU parliament’s civil liberties committee debating Council of … CRITICISMS OF EU TERROR LIST SYSTEM

I must admit, I thought everyone had these already. Profiling of border crossers was always intended to be part of Schengen.

This case was reported earlier in the blog, but there is more in the present Washington Post article on methods and the discovery of a general climate of corruption in the office. The practice goes back 20 years, prosecutors now think. Organised or disorganised crime?

Former Russian nuclear power minister convicted of stealing from a joint us-Russian uranium venture. Unclear whether this conviction will satisfy US authorities. Russians refused to extradite. May be a precedent here for a future prosecution for murder of Litvinenko…or not. Interesting to see how US reacts to the conviction. There will be an appeal.

Piece by Mary O’Hara on the aftermath of the Peace Process in Northern Ireland with lots of comments on the paramilitaries and organised crime. Lots in there for the researcher.

Pasquale Condello, head of ndrangheta, the Calabrian mafia has been arrested. Ive chosen the Guardian story because there are links to another page with all recent stories on the Drugs Trade and to International Crime. Guardian appears to be reorganising its website, because its taking time to load and there are lots of “what me? … NDRANGHETA BOSS CAUGHT AFTER 20 YEARS ON RUN

New York Times article about the long way round by which iphones made in China return there for use on the domestic market. Illicit business or illegal business? Whichever, It’s big money for somebody somewhere.

Young street criminals are taking their gang allegiances and love of knives into the prison system with them, according to this article from the Guardian. I seem to remember that this was the way many classic turf-oriented organised crime groups began in other countries. Dangerous stuff for the long term.

Lots of euro banknotes coming through Miami airport, allegedly from proceeds of cocaine deals in Europe. Associated Press Report available via msnbc. Article describe the laundering technique.