Greetings from Illicit Edge! It’s December 31, and we’re tracking today’s top stories: China hacks U.S. Treasury Department, billion-dollar Pig Butchering boss, Russian oligarchs fuel war machine, global boom in cocaine trafficking defies decades of anti-drug efforts, and much more…

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🎯 China-backed hackers breached U.S. Treasury. Third-party software service provider BeyondTrust said hackers gained access to a key used by the vendor to secure a cloud-based service that the Treasury Department uses for technical support. CNN

Top Stories

🌎 The Elusive Crime Boss Linked to Billion-Dollar ‘Pig Butchering’ Scams WSJ

🌎 The Russian billionaires whose chemical factories fuel Russia's war machine Reuters 

🌎 Global boom in cocaine trafficking defies decades of anti-drug efforts WaPo

🌎 7 tons of cocaine found buried underneath farm in Spain CBS

🌎 Syria’s Islamist Rulers Name Maysaa Sabrine First Woman to Head Central Bank WSJ

🌎 Syria’s new rulers appoint foreign jihadists to senior posts in army Reuters

🌎 Drugs, Scams and Sin: Myanmar’s War Has Made It the Global Crime Capital NYT

🌎 Thailand says no evidence of bank transactions for Myanmar weapons Reuters

🌎 Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon will face fraud charges in the U.S. TechCrunch

🌎 Rank-and-file bank workers sell client data to online scammers NYP 

🌎 ByteDance appears to be skirting US restrictions to buy Nvidia chips TechCrunch

🌎 Knife-wielding Tren de Aragua gangbangers are repeatedly attacking border crossings before Trump takes office NYP

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China

🇨🇳 China is building new detention centers all over the country as Xi widens corruption purge CNN

🇨🇳 China’s financial corruption crackdown reeled in dozens of naughty bankers in 2024 SCMP

🇨🇳 China State Shipbuilding replaces chairman as corruption rumors swirl Lloyds

🇨🇳 China charges Myanmar Golden Triangle syndicate with murder and fraud SCMP

🇨🇳 Venezuela Court Fines TikTok $10 Million Over Deadly Challenges Bloomberg

Russia

🇷🇺 Putin Hands Local Company Control of AB InBev’s Russian Unit Bloomberg

🇷🇺 Has Russia’s Shadow Fleet, Built to Evade Sanctions, Added Sabotage to Its List? NYT

🇷🇺 Power company hid illegal crypto mine that may have caused outages Ars

🇷🇺 Russian smugglers import luxury cars from Europe despite sanctions FT

Corruption & Financial Crime

💸 ‘Nuclear Verdicts’ Driving Up Costs of Doing Business WSJ

💸 Novartis likely to face Gilenya bribery allegations again Swissinfo

💸 U.S. files complaint against fintech app Dave and its CEO Reuters

💸 The Authorities Shrug at Bank Fraud WSJ

💸 ADM Shareholder Calls for CEO to Leave as Probe Drags On Bloomberg

💸 Madoff victims get final $131M payout from compensation fund NYP

Crypto & Cyber

🔐 Why Hawk Tuah Girl’s crypto scandal may be the defining moment of 2024 Fast Company 

🔐 Crypto industry groups sue IRS over broker reporting rule TechCrunch

🔐 AT&T, Verizon Say Networks Now Clear After Salt Typhoon Hack Bloomberg

Trafficking

🚚 How a mishandled sex trafficking prosecution led to sweetheart plea deals DMN 

🚚 Mexico to investigate a town that thanked a drug lord for holiday season gifts AP

🚚 Mexico creating app for migrants to send alerts if detained in US Axios

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

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