Hello Thursday! It’s April 23, and we’re tracking today’s top stories: Mexican president considers sanctions on Chihuahua state over CIA drug lab operation, New York Attorney General sues Coinbase, Gemini for 'illegal gambling' on prediction market platforms, Moldovan Vladimir Plahotniuc Sentenced to 19 Years for Crimes, Including Billion Dollar Bank Fraud, DHS bigwig put on leave after ex-boyfriend accuses glitzy terror official of $40K sugar baby scheme, and much more…

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🎯 FEATURED STORY

Mexican president considers sanctions on Chihuahua state over CIA drug lab operation. Mexican authorities continued to muddle the official account over the role of two CIA agents in a counternarcotics operation in northern Mexico and the extent to which Mexico’s federal government was aware of the U.S. involvement in the incident. Associated Press

🔥 TOP STORIES

New York Attorney General sues Coinbase, Gemini for 'illegal gambling' on prediction market platforms The Block

Moldovan Vladimir Plahotniuc Sentenced to 19 Years for Crimes, Including "Billion Dollar Bank Fraud" OCCRP

Is Belgium a narco-state? UnHerd

DHS bigwig put on leave after ex-boyfriend accuses glitzy terror official of $40K sugar baby scheme New York Post

US intelligence indicates China is preparing weapons shipment to Iran amid fragile ceasefire CNN

U.S. Blocks Iraq's Dollar Shipments to Squeeze Its Iran-Backed Militias Wall Street Journal

Secretive Shipments of Iranian Oil to China Are Under Threat by U.S. Wall Street Journal

Economic Fury Targets Iranian Missile and UAV Procurement Networks U.S. Treasury

EU agrees to unblock €90bn loan for Ukraine after Hungary lifts veto The Guardian

What's in the EU's 20th package of sanctions against Russia Reuters

Trump eyes Iran deal with many of the trade-offs he blasted Obama for accepting Washington Post

Southern Poverty Law Center indicted for fraud, money laundering Politico

Russia faked economic data to appear more resilient to its war and sanctions Euronews

US Treasury Chief Defends Pivot To Extend Russia Oil Sanctions Relief AFP

UK firms to face tougher checks on export licenses to bolster sanctions on Russia The Guardian

El Chapo's older brother 'captured' after Black Hawks spotted Daily Star

🚩 RUSSIA & CHINA

Reckitt's Russia unit develops new local products after EU sanctions harden Reuters

Moscow to suspend Kazakh oil flows through key pipeline supplying Berlin Financial Times

Entangled In Russia's Faltering Economy: The Fate Of Its Respected Central Banker RFE

Russia Sells 22 Tons of Gold to Curb Growing Federal Budget Deficit United24

Russian Businesses Helping Funnel Military Equipment to Wagner Successor Group in Mali The Moscow Times

Micron pushes US Congress to crack down on chip tool sales to Chinese rivals Reuters

🚀 SANCTIONS & TERROR

Roman Abramovich takes Jersey to European human rights court over Chelsea sale proceeds The Guardian

Terror Records in German Hands: ISIS and the Bureaucracy of Evil Der Spiegel

US imposes new sanctions against suppliers of weapons to Iran Reuters

US halts Iraq dollar cash shipment after militia strikes Reuters

The 2 critical Iran lifelines the US has left largely untouched -- just as cease-fire talks stall New York Post

How a Sudanese militia built a military and economic empire The Economist

Colombian mercenaries in Sudan: Phone tracking shows they backed the RSF BBC

Seven arrested in London over foiled arson attack on Jewish community CNN

💸 CORRUPTION & FINANCIAL CRIME

US Congressional Committee Chips Away at Corporate Transparency Act OCCRP

Ex-RBS banker sentenced over bribery linked to GRG scandal Financial Times

Swedish Supreme Court acquits former Swedbank CEO Bonnesen in Estonia money laundering case Reuters

Three Bedrooms for €60 Million Shows Monaco's Dirty Money Headache Bloomberg

France Opens Criminal Inquiry Into Lebanese Banks Over Crisis-Era Capital Flight OCCRP

Nepal's Home Minister Resigns over Financial Probe Weeks into new Government OCCRP

Scammers trick students abroad into buying gold in fake money-laundering probes South China Morning Post

🔐 CRYPTO & CYBER

Crypto billionaire Justin Sun sues Trump family's World Liberty Financial, alleging fraud CBS News

Russia Passes Crypto Regulation Bill In First Reading Cointelegraph

The London P2P sweep: UK FCA raids eight illegal peer-to-peer trading hubs CoinDesk

Iran Scammers Demand Bitcoin, USDT for Transit Through Strait of Hormuz Decrypt

North Korean-backed hackers roll out new attack vector targeting crypto executives and firms CoinDesk

Hackers Behind $300 Million Crypto Theft Now Laundering Loot Bloomberg

Kelp DAO exploiter launders $80 million worth of ETH, mostly through THORChain The Block

Tether Asserts Stablecoin Dominance Over Circle's USDC Amid Major Crypto Hacks Decrypt

🚚 TRAFFICKING

The Flores twins built a drug empire with El Chapo — then betrayed him Los Angeles Times

International Court Clears Path to Try former Philippine President Duterte Over Drug War OCCRP

Mexico official: Teotihuacán gunman carried material related to US mass shooting BBC

Suspected Bloods, Crips, MS-13 gangbangers nabbed in Long Island crackdown: 'Safest county in America' New York Post

Weapons-grade chemical carfentanil surges as dangerous substitute for fentanyl Border Report

“Atlas was permitted the opinion that he was at liberty, if he wished, to drop the Earth and creep away; but this opinion was all that he was permitted.” —Franz Kafka

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