Happy Monday! It’s October 27, and we’re tracking top stories to start the week: 6.5 tons of cocaine seized from boat off Canary Islands after tip from U.S., How Venezuela’s Autocrat Uses Crypto to Fight Trump’s Sanctions, Inside Congress' battle to repeal Syria's Caesar sanctions, Fresh Off Trump Pardon, Changpeng Zhao Launches Stablecoin in Kyrgyzstan, and much more…

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🎯 FEATURED STORY

6.5 tons of cocaine seized from boat off the Canary Islands after tip from U.S. Spain is one of the main gateways for cocaine into Europe, due to its links with Latin America, where the drug is produced, and its geographical location in the southwest of the continent. CBS

🔥 TOP STORIES

How Venezuela’s Autocrat Uses Crypto to Fight Trump’s Sanctions NYT

Inside Venezuela's narco-terror gang 'Cartel of the Suns' in Trump's crosshairs Sun 

Inside Congress' battle to repeal Syria's Caesar sanctions Al Monitor 

Fresh Off His Trump Pardon, Changpeng Zhao Helps Launch Stablecoin in Kyrgyzstan Gizmodo 

Binance founder’s pardon shows power of Trump allies on K Street Politico

Sanctioned Russian Oil Will Find New Ways to Flow WSJ 

HSBC to recognize $1.1 billion provision in third quarter after court ruling in Madoff case CNBC

JPMorgan Chase wants out of paying $115M legal tab for convicted fraudsters AP

X-ray tables, marked cards and the Mafia: How the FBI says poker games were rigged ESPN

Two Defendants Convicted of Conspiring to Provide Material Support to ISIS DOJ 

M&S ousts Indian outsourcer accused of £300m cyberattack failures Telegraph 

'We Do Not Kneel': Colombian President Defiant In Response To US Sanctions AFP

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🚩 RUSSIA & CHINA

Trump’s TikTok Deal Will Supposedly Close on Thursday Gizmodo 

Russia's top Indian oil buyer Reliance says it will abide by Western sanctions Reuters

Georgia arrests three Chinese nationals for trying to buy uranium illegally CNN 

EU trying to end China rare earth dependence DW

‘Snapback’ sanctions are deepening the Iran-Russia alignment Atlantic Council

💸 CORRUPTION & FINANCIAL CRIME

Corruption Probe Underway at Rio Tinto’s Mongolian Copper Mine WSJ 

Help! We're drowning in corruption Labash

Betting Scandals Are Rocking Sports. Will Prediction Markets Help or Hurt? Decrypt

German police seize fake Picassos in multi-million euro forgery raid BBC 

Rand strengthens after South Africa removed from 'grey list' Reuters

🔐 CRYPTO & CYBER

AI is about to supercharge cyberattacks Axios

The mysterious figure accused of masterminding a $14bn crypto scam BBC

North Korea Has Stolen Billions in Crypto, But the Ability to 'Fight Back Is Growing' Decrypt 

Your Browser’s Password Manager Is Better Than Ever. You Still Shouldn’t Use It. Wired

🚚 TRAFFICKING

Belgium is basically a narco-state Politico 

Accused fentanyl kingpin dubbed "Brother Wang" extradited from Cuba to U.S. CBS 

Can Anyone Rescue the Trafficked Girls of L.A.’s Figueroa Street? NYT 

FBI indicts dozens in Philadelphia on drug charges AP

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Tuesday, October 28th at 3pm
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