Transnational Crime and Response

Schools across Africa are increasingly becoming frontlines in armed conflict, according to a new global report that found attacks on education rose by more than 40% worldwide in 2024 and 2025, reaching their highest levels in recent years. The report, Education Under Attack 2026, published by the Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack (GCPEA), […]

Dutch prosecutor Petra Hoekstra has spent much of her career pursuing organised criminal networks, but one case stands out above all others. As she explained to UNODC, it was an investigation that uncovered a migrant smuggling and extortion network stretching from detention camps in Libya to Eritrean communities in the Netherlands. What began with reports […]

The hijacking of a cargo vessel bound for Mombasa is the latest sign of a worrying resurgence of Somali piracy, with maritime security experts warning that political instability, economic hardship and shifting geopolitical priorities are creating conditions for a return of attacks along one of the world’s busiest shipping routes. The latest incident follows a […]

An alleged Bulgarian drug trafficker, Stanislav Stamenov, who was sought internationally on an Interpol Red Notice, has been released from South Africa’s Pollsmoor Prison after the High Court in the Western Cape ruled that his detention was unlawful. The court found that Stamenov was held beyond the 40‑day legal limit without adequate justification, rendering the […]

Ethiopia’s Federal Police Commission revealed the arrest of several key suspects linked to a large-scale human trafficking network believed to have operated across the Horn of Africa and beyond for more than a decade. The authorities said the network trafficked thousands of people along established migration routes, with operations spanning multiple countries, including Libya. The […]

Jamal did not leave Ethiopia in search of work, wealth or a better future abroad. He left to find his nephew. When the 16-year-old disappeared along the dangerous Eastern Route to Saudi Arabia, Jamal made a decision few would dare contemplate: he deliberately entered the same trafficking network believed to be holding the boy captive. […]