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Operation Box Cutter, War on Fraud, and Taiwan Underworld

Illicit Edge - Edition for March 25, 2026

Greetings! It’s March 25, and we’re tracking today’s top stories: FBI's 'Operation Box Cutter' indicts Chinese pharma firms, terror-linked cartel assets in fentanyl takedown; Senate confirms DOJ's new 'War on Fraud' prosecutor Colin McDonald; Billion-Dollar Casino Scheme and a Murder in Cambodia Expose Taiwan's Underworld; How an American tycoon deploys Mao's playbook against the West; and much more…

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🎯 FEATURED STORY

FBI's 'Operation Box Cutter' indicts Chinese pharma firms, terror-linked cartel assets in fentanyl takedown. A federal grand jury in Ohio charged Shandong Believe Chemical Company and Shandong Ranhang Biotechnology, with China's Ministry of Public Security aiding the FBI probe. Fox News

🔥 TOP STORIES

Senate confirms DOJ's new 'War on Fraud' prosecutor Colin McDonald New York Post

A Billion-Dollar Casino Scheme and a Murder in Cambodia Expose Taiwan's Underworld OCCRP

Red wealth, dark money: How an American tycoon deploys Mao's playbook against the West Fox News

SDNY Announces Recovery Of Hundreds Of Millions Of Dollars For Victims of Iran-Sponsored Terrorism DOJ

Former Bank CEO Pleads Guilty to Multimillion-Dollar Wire Fraud Conspiracy and Venezuela Sanctions Evasion Scheme DOJ

Israel Hits Russian-Iranian Weapons Smuggling Route in the Caspian Sea Wall Street Journal

Federal Jury Convicts Dual Lebanese-Syrian National for His Role in Narco-Terrorism DOJ

Uruguayan Man Pleads Guilty to Agreeing to Move Money into the U.S. to Circumvent U.S. Sanctions DOJ

U.S. sanctions Vancouver company for ties to Hezbollah Global News

Edmond de Rothschild Offices Raided in Probe of Epstein Associate Wall Street Journal

Canada revokes dozens of crypto firms' registrations ICIJ

Supermicro—accused of smuggling $2.5 billion in Nvidia chips to China—has been here before, in Iran Fortune

Romanian Tycoon Linked to Sanctioned Belarusian Elites and Russian Drone Makers OCCRP

Man charged in $90M Medicare fraud scheme; DOJ says suspect may have entered US illegally Fox News

Will Iran Turn to Terrorism? Why a Desperate Regime Might Go After Soft Targets Foreign Affairs

IN THE NEWS

🚩 RUSSIA & CHINA

Moscow Court Bans Galitsky's Venture Capital Fund as 'Extremist' Moscow Times

Russia Faces Acute Yuan Shortage as Trade Lifeline Tightens Moscow Times

Russia-linked malware operation collapses after security failures, developer's arrest The Record

Chinese financial regulator and ex-corruption fighter Zhou Liang under probe South China Morning Post

Audit slams California school officials' ties to Chinese boarding school Politico

US regulator bans imports of new foreign-made routers, citing security concerns Reuters

🚀 SANCTIONS

Russian Oil Shipment Puts Focus on Kremlin Spy Outpost in Cuba New York Times

The EU's Plan To Defeat Russia In Armenia And Belarus After US Potash Sanctions Lifted RFE/RL

Cuba signals possible compensation for seized U.S. properties, but Cuban Americans remain skeptical CBS News

Issuance of Venezuela-related General License OFAC

💥 TERROR

A look at the fireworks company that sold products to two suspected terrorists this month CNN

Hybrid Threat Signals: Assessing Possible Iranian Involvement in Recent Attacks in Europe ICCT

'Moderate' Mikie Sherrill Attends Ramadan Services With Imam Who Faced Deportation Proceedings Over Ties to Hamas Free Beacon

Judge Orders Records Search After Trump Ties Cole Attack to Iran New York Times

Iranian spies are already in the US — and infiltrating Silicon Valley New York Post

Al-Qaeda's Cyber Jihad Movement: Plugging into Iran's Wartime Hacktivist Ecosystem GNET

Could Al-Qaeda Chief Be Part of an Iran War Deal? SpyTalk

💸 CORRUPTION & FINANCIAL CRIME

Congress launches investigation into California hospice fraud, citing millions in taxpayer losses CBS News

Insight Partners scrubs investment post about Delve amid 'fake compliance' allegations TechCrunch

Man to repay £60,000 after £12m money laundering scam BBC

Minnesota millionaire who qualified for food stamps warns of 'fraud by design' loophole ahead of hearing Fox News

Fed Enforces Actions on Ex-Ally, Regions Bank Staff Mirage News

Why is Brooklyn a hotspot for illegal election activity by nonprofits? Times Union

Polymarket is cracking down on insider trading with updated rules Engadget

🔐 CRYPTO & CYBER

Trader made nearly $1 million on Polymarket with remarkably accurate Iran bets CNN

FBI says Iranian hackers are using Telegram to steal data in malware attacks TechCrunch

The 'crypto kids' of Los Angeles: Easy money, risky lives and a violent fallout Los Angeles Times

Iran-linked hackers target second U.S. medical institution during war Axios

FBI warns of Russian, Iranian cyber activity involving messaging platforms The Record

Russian hacker who helped Yanluowang ransomware gang gets nearly 7-year prison sentence The Record

Hackers: We breached Crunchyroll, stole 7 million users' data Mashable

Someone has publicly leaked an exploit kit that can hack millions of iPhones TechCrunch

Attacker Exploits Crypto Stablecoin for a $25 Million Payday Gizmodo

Warren Requests Information From MrBeast About Crypto and Children New York Times

🚚 TRAFFICKING

How North Texas is fighting human trafficking ahead of the 2026 World Cup CBS News

Arizona's guns are feeding the bloodshed in Mexico's cartel war The Guardian

Puerto Rico Woman Who Flew to Philadelphia With Nearly 15 Pounds of Cocaine in Checked Bag Sentenced DOJ

Seven men jailed over conspiracy to import €42m worth of cocaine BBC

"Adults ask questions as a child does. When you stop wondering, you might as well put your rocker on the front porch and call it a day." —Johnny Carson

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