LIMA, Peru (August 16, 2017) – Standing in front of tall metal doors wrapped in razor wire in the dusty outskirts of Lima, Peru, my colleague Stevan Dojčinović and I realize this might not be such a great idea. I’m about to pose as a prostitute to sneak into the maximum-security Miguel Castro Castro prison....
On a cold winter day in Gdansk, Zoran Jakšić scrambled to fix a problem not of his making. The second-in-command of Group America, a major international narcotics trafficking organization, was in Poland to prepare for a drug delivery. But at 12:42 p.m. on January 28, 2009, Jakšić received a troubling call from an associate called...
Mileta Miljanić, a Bosnian-born U.S. citizen, is a wanted man in Italy and faces arrest if he so much as changes planes there. In New York, a 2003 federal indictment of Miljanić remains inexplicably open, with no apparent move to take him to court. So it’s easy to find the leader of “Group America,” a...
As militant groups spread across the Sahel, the West African nation of Niger went on a U.S.-backed military spending spree that totaled about US$1 billion between 2011 and 2019. But almost a third of that money was funnelled into inflated international arms deals – seemingly designed to allow corrupt officials and brokers to siphon off...
It is relatively common for animals that rank high on the list of the world’s most protected species to change hands in Central Europe. Illegal wildlife trade has become one of the most profitable branches of organized crime. Where is the red line that divides the world of big cats’ enthusiasts and those involved in...
Ladislav Vydra is a pensioner from Prague. After an eye surgery, his retina fell apart and he all but lost his eyesight. Doctors gave him no prospects for improvement. Andrzej, a man from Poland, has his hearing impaired but does not want to use hearing aid yet. Both of them trusted ads for miraculous products,...