smuggling

Earth News

Greece clamps down on illegal smuggling of endangered sea urchins

Thousands of endangered sea urchins are being pulled from the sea in Greece, as fisherman succumb to lucrative profits.

03/04/2026

Netherlands

Synthetic drug ring smashed in 'largest-ever' operation, Europol says

Authorities dismantled 24 industrial-scale labs and seized around 1,000 tonnes of chemicals used to make street drugs such as MDMA, amphetamine and meth.

21/01/2026

Lithuania

Lithuania arrests 21 alleged smugglers using balloons from Belarus

Tuesday's operation involved more than 140 officers from the Lithuanian Criminal Police Bureau, Vilnius police and special anti-terrorism units.

16/12/2025

Lithuania

Lithuania plans to close Belarus border after balloon incursions

Lithuania's two border crossings with Belarus, at Medininkai and Šalčininkai, were both closed for several hours as a result of the balloon incidents.

27/10/2025

Lithuania

Vilnius airport closed after cigarette-smuggling balloons spotted

The Lithuanian authorities have blamed Belarus for the incident, which disrupted the travel plans of 4,000 passengers.

22/10/2025

United Kingdom

UK police disrupt gang suspected of smuggling stolen phones to China

The Metropolitan Police said it has arrested 46 people in its largest ever crackdown on mobile phone theft.

07/10/2025

Lithuania

Balloons carrying smuggled cigarettes closed Lithuania's main airport

Thousands of passengers' journeys were disrupted after the authorities closed Vilnius Airport for hours as a precaution.

07/10/2025

Health news

US foiled plan to bring toxic fungus from China to university lab

A scientific journal describes the fungus as a "potential agroterrorism weapon" that can be used against crops and people.

04/06/2025

Indonesia

Australian man arrested for allegedly smuggling cocaine into Bali

The Southeast Asian country has extremely strict drug laws and convicted smugglers are sometimes executed by firing squad.

29/05/2025

Europe News

Belgium to tighten control on private aircraft in anti-smuggling push

Belgian customs authorities will place an officer at the national airspace security centre to access military radar and clamp down on private aircraft being used in smuggling operations.

27/05/2025

Thailand

Thailand vows to tighten control of cannabis as smuggling cases soar

Thailand became the first country in Asia to decriminalise cannabis in 2022, which has boosted the country's tourism industry and spawned thousands of shops.

21/05/2025

United Kingdom

UK jails smuggler for 25 years over arranging migrant boats to Europe

UK-based Egyptian national Ahmed Ebid helped smuggle nearly 3,800 people from north Africa to Italy as part of a lucrative criminal network.

20/05/2025

Spain

Spanish police arrest Russian couple over Mallorca cat smuggling ring

The suspects are alleged to have advertised species including pumas, white tigers and clouded leopards — for which they were charging €60,000.

15/04/2025

Health news

Customs officials issue warning about 'erectile honey' flooding France

French authorities made a record bust in 2024, seizing 13 tonnes of honey laced with erectile dysfunction medicine.

21/01/2025

Europe News

Man suspected of supplying small boats to people smugglers arrested

A joint operation between authorities in Belgium, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom led to the arrest of a Turkish national in Amsterdam.

15/11/2024

Europe News

French court convicts 18 people in migrant smuggling trial

The defendants were part of a smuggling gang accused of overseeing most Channel crossings on small boats from France to the UK from 2000 to 2022.

05/11/2024