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Cocaine Highway, Iran Black Market, and Grift Empire
Illicit Edge - Edition for September 15, 2026
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Greetings! It’s September 15, and we’re tracking today’s top stories: Australia’s new plan to target cocaine traffickers moving through islands, U.S. Attorney Seeks Forfeiture Of $61 Million In Cryptocurrency From The Iranian Military’s Black-Market Oil Sales, MAGA Is Making the World Safe for Corruption, Hidden crypto farm in Mexican mountains puts spotlight on cartel funding, and much more…
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Breaking News for FinCrime Professionals
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🎯 FEATURED STORY
‘Pacific drugs highway’: Australia’s new plan to target cocaine traffickers moving through islands. Australia has some of the world’s highest cocaine prices after the Gulf states, making it a prized target for international cartels. Straits Times
🔥 TOP STORIES
U.S. Attorney Seeks Forfeiture Of $61 Million In Cryptocurrency From The Iranian Military’s Black-Market Oil Sales DOJ
MAGA Is Making the World Safe for Corruption The Atlantic
Hidden crypto farm in Mexican mountains puts spotlight on cartel funding Reuters
VTB Bank: Operation Economic Outcast Sanctions Major Bank Helping Iran Evade Sanctions U.S. Treasury
SBA Announces Suspensions of 870,000 U.S. Borrowers Tied to $39 Billion in Suspected Pandemic Fraud SBA
How China is extending its legal reach abroad to fight US sanctions Financial Times
Exposing a Canadian 'banking' company linked to money launderers CBC
Revolut confirms customer data breach through fake government requests TechCrunch
Now recruiting: North Korea looks abroad for talent in its scheme to infiltrate U.S. companies NBC News
China’s anti-corruption law is going global. What does it mean for overseas firms? South China Morning Post
The US Government Launched 3 Previously Unreported Investigations of Polymarket Trades WIRED
Iran’s proxy money machine: How the Houthis built a multibillion-dollar network despite US sanctions Fox News
Donald Trump Jr.’s Bahamas Wedding Was Secretly Bankrolled by Russian Oligarch Close to Putin ProPublica
Black Axe in South Africa: Six Nigerians accused of romance scams to be extradited to the US BBC
IN THE NEWS
🚩 RUSSIA & CHINA
Russia Returns To Syria Bases, Contradicting 'Transfer' Claims RFE/RL
U.S. Links Chinese Satellite Imagery to Iranian Strike That Killed Three Troops Wall Street Journal
The New Moscow: A Digital Utopia Doubling as a Surveillance Trap New York Times
Ukraine is fighting Russian-propped military dictatorships and warlords in Africa as part of global proxy war New York Post
Russia's Matryoshka bots impersonate celebrities in new campaign targeting U.S. midterms with calls not to vote for “pedophile Democrats” The Insider
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🚀 SANCTIONS & TERROR
France joins Slovakia in asking to delist Russian oligarch Usmanov Euronews
EU plans sanctions on Tatarstan head Rustam Minnikhanov and others over forced transfer of Ukrainian children to Russia The Insider
Iranian Official Blocked From UN Nuclear Meeting at US’s Urging Bloomberg
British firms that implement Israel sanctions to be named and shamed in US Telegraph
Al-Qaeda regroups in Afghanistan, 25 years after 9/11 Washington Post
Hamas planned Berlin-Vienna attacks for Oct. 7 anniversary Politico
DOJ Removes Alien Terrorist in First Use of United States Alien Terrorist Removal Court DOJ
💸 CORRUPTION & FINANCIAL CRIME
Maduro ally Alex Saab expected to plead guilty in federal money laundering case NBC News
C.I.A. Officer Found With Gold Bars in Basement Reaches Tentative Plea Deal New York Times
Making Iraq ‘normal’ again: do mass arrests and cash seizures signal end to corruption? Guardian
After a $2.4 billion money laundering bust, Singapore now has hundreds of luxury handbags to shift CNN
UK Fraud Trial Opens Over $119M Car Investment Scheme OCCRP
Brazil’s Flávio Bolsonaro faces corruption investigation weeks before elections AP
🔐 CRYPTO & CYBER
New York Seizes a Dozen Celebrity Deepfake Websites WIRED
Thorough reorganization at NSA will create five 'mission centers,' including cyber and AI Record
How did hackers trick Berlin's city government? DW
Florida confirms DMV database breached via stolen police account BleepingComputer
🚚 TRAFFICKING
A New Lawsuit Alleges an International Andy Warhol Forgery Scheme Wall Street Journal
Steep rise in young UK nationals detained for smuggling drugs from Asia BBC
Colombian National Pleads Guilty for Role in Dangerous Human Smuggling Organization DOJ
Mexican Cartel Strategic Note No. 40: South African and Nigerian Meth Labs and Global Expansion Small Wars Journal
“Never believe anything in politics until it has been officially denied.” —Otto von Bismarck
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