The International Enforcement Law Reporter is a monthly print and online journal covering news and trends in international enforcement law.
Since September 1985, the International Enforcement Law Reporter has analyzed the premier developments in both the substantive and procedural aspects of international enforcement law. Read by practitioners, academics, and politicians, the IELR is a valuable guide to the difficult and dynamic field of international law.
On November 10, 2020, Abu Dhabi established a court specializing in money laundering and tax evasion crimes. On November 23, the new court sentenced nine people, mostly expatriates to jail and assessed fines.
On November 27, 2020, senior law enforcement officials from the United States, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras announced the filing of criminal charges against 700 members of transnational criminal organizations (TOC), mainly MS-13 and 18th Street gangs. The charges came from a one-week coordinated law enforcement action under Operation Regional Shield (ORS).[1]
[1] U.S. Department of Justice, More than 700 Members of Transnational Organized Crime Groups Arrested in Central America in U.S. Assisted Operation, Press. Rel. 1291, Nov. 27, 2020.
On December 1, 2020, the Swiss Federal Tax Administration (FTA) issued notice of requests by the United States Internal Revenue Service, based on its tax treaty, for the FTA to transmit to the IRS information concerning accounts identified as U.S. accounts.[1]
On December 7, 2020, the EU Council adopted a decision and a regulation establishing a Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime (EUGHRSR).[1] For the first time, the EU is equipping itself with a framework that will allow it to target individuals, entities and bodies – including state and non-state actors – responsible for, involved in or associated with serious human rights violations and abuses worldwide, no matter where they occurred.
* Professor Plachta specializes in criminal law and international criminal law. He has authored numerous publication on a wide range of problems concerning law enforcement and international cooperation in criminal matters. He currently teaches criminal law and European criminal law at the University of Security in Poznan, Poland.
[1] EU adopts a global human rights sanctions regime, Press release, December 7, 2020, https://www.consilium.europa.eu.
On December 7, 2020, the United States Department of Justice unsealed in U.S. District Court in Pittsburg a criminal complaint, charging Desmond Fodje Bobga, 27, with crimes related to an alleged online “puppy scam.” Bobga is a citizen of Cameroon who is attending a university in Romania.[1]
[1] U.S. Department of Justice, Cameroonian Operator Charged in Fraudulent Online “Puppy Scam” that Exploited the COVID-19 Pandemic, Press Rel. No. 20-1322.
On October 27, 2020, the Swiss government returned to Italy 26 Etruscan artifacts that were illegally acquired by a private Swiss collector between 1965 and 1968 and stored for 15 years in the Geneva free port.[1]
[1] Franciolli, Riccardo, “Switzerland returns stolen artifacts to Italy,” Nov. 12, 2020, SWISS INFO, https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/switzerland-returns-stolen-artefacts-to-italy/46152978.
On November 19, 2020, Gen. Angus Campbell, chief of the Australian Defense Force (ADF), ”unreservedly apologized” to the Afghan people in a press conference regarding the release of a 531-report[1] on alleged war crimes, crimes against humanity, and other wrongdoing committed by Australian special forces during the Afghan war.
[1] Inspector-General of the Australian Defense Force, Afghanistan Inquiry Report (Nov. 19, 2020) https://afghanistaninquiry.defence.gov.au/sites/default/files/2020-11/IGADF-Afghanistan-Inquiry-Public-Release-Version.pdf.
On December 2, 2020, the United States[1] and European Union law enforcement agencies acted to crack down against money mules. Money mules are individuals who help fraudsters by receiving money from victims of fraud and forwarding it to the fraud organizers, many of whom are located abroad.
[1] U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Law Enforcement Takes Action Against Approximately 2,300 Money Mules in Global Crackdown on Money Laundering, Press Rel.20-1301, Dec. 2, 2020.
On November 18, 2020, Italy extradited to the United States Ramon Santoyo-Cristobal, aka Dr. Wagner, a former officer of the Mexican Federal Police and alleged Sinaloa Cartel drug trafficker.[1]
[1] U.S. Attorney S.D. California, Sinaloa Cartel Drug Trafficker Extradited from Italy, Press Rel. CAS20-1110, Nov. 19, 2020.
On November 17, 2020, the Attorney General of the United States William P. Barr and Fiscalía General of Mexico Alejandro Gertz Manero issued a joint statement[1] announcing that the U.S. government has decided to seek dismissal of the U.S. criminal charges against former Mexican Secretary of National Defense General Salvador Cienfuegos Zepeda. Within one day, the charges were dismissed and Cienfuegos was returned to Mexico.
[1] U.S. Department of Justice, Joint Statement by Attorney General of the United States William P. Barr and Fiscalía General of Mexico Alejandro Gertz Manero, Press Rel. No. 20-1,249, Nov. 17, 2020.
