Gang

Police announced on Sunday the dismantling of a burglary ring responsible for break-ins at three government ministries in September.

According to authorities, two members of the gang were arrested and brought before a prosecutor, while a third suspect has been identified.

Two gruesome murders related to drug trafficking – involving two minors as both the perpetrator and the victim – have shaken Marseille.

One involves the murder of a taxi driver by a 14-year-old boy, who was hired to avenge the killing of a 15-year-old. That 15-year-old had been stabbed dozens of times by a drug gang operating in the city.

Istanbul Governor Davut Gül said on Aug. 9 authorities have dismantled 119 criminal gangs in the city this year, following 747 operations that resulted in the apprehension of over 3,500 individuals.

Nearly 1,700 of those were arrested, and around 700 were released on probation.

In the wake of last week's murder of 54-year-old engineer/surveyor Panagiotis Stathis in Athens, police authorities are coming down heavily on rival gangs vying for dominance in areas such as entertainment, catering and property sales on the island of Mykonos. 

Police have unraveled a criminal gang of people employed in the civil service that extorted or aided catering establishments and hotels to skirt the law, for building permits, the use of tables and seating and other illegalities.

Police conducted an operation against six criminal gangs in the Attica region on Monday, arresting 50 suspected members, while identifying 187 others. The gangs were involved in drug trafficking, theft and counterfeiting. According to the authorities, they had made approximately 1.4 million euros from their criminal activities. 

Security forces cracked down a total of 420 organized crime groups in 2023, with 11 operating at an international scale, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya has announced.

Police in violence-plagued Ecuador arrested 68 people Sunday who had attempted to take over a hospital in the country's southwest in the midst of a "war" between drug gangs and the security forces.

Ecuador's armed forces were engaged in a brutal standoff with organized crime Thursday, deploying more than 22,400 soldiers to put down a campaign of terror waged by gangs that has claimed 16 lives.

Walking fast, with their eyes alert and voices low, a few Ecuadorans flitted about fearfully Wednesday on city streets all but deserted amid an escalating conflict between the armed forces and violent drug gangs.