Hello Wednesday!  It’s March 20, and we’re tracking today's top stories: Bolivia seizes $450M of cocaine in second-biggest drug bust, U.S. weighs new Huawei tech sanctions, Netherlands indicts man for using Tornado Cash in $1.2B laundering scheme, border enforcement in disarray as courts debate Texas immigration powers, and much more...

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🎯 Bolivia seizes $450M of cocaine in second-biggest drug bust. Bolivian police have carried out the second-largest drug bust in the country's history, seizing more than 7 tons of cocaine destined for Belgium. Reuters 

Top Stories

🌎 U.S. Weighs Sanctioning Huawei’s Secretive Chinese Chip Network. Such a move would mark another escalation in a US campaign to ringfence and curtail Beijing’s AI and semiconductor ambitions Bloomberg

🌎 Netherlands indictment says Alexey Pertsev aided in laundering $1.2B through Tornado Cash. Indictment alleges that Pertsev was involved in money laundering on Tornado Cash and cited 36 illegal transactions. Block

🌎 Border Enforcement in Disarray as Courts Debate Texas’ Power to Arrest, Deport Immigrants. State plan to enforce immigration law in defiance of Washington is on-again, off-again after shifting court rulings. WSJ

🚩 Cartel violence in Mexico is real — that’s exactly why we need asylum Hill

🚩 Federal Judge: Illegal Immigrants Can Carry Guns NewsMax

🌎 Vladimir Putin’s gold strategy explains why sanctions against Russia have failed. How have 16,000 strategic sanctions issued by some of the most powerful economies in the world failed to derail Putin? Conversation

🌎 Europeans at Odds Over Sanctioning Iran for Weapons Transfers in Middle East. France and Germany want penalties on Tehran for aiding regional allies but top EU diplomat says they could undermine other efforts. WSJ

🌎 White House and EPA warn of hackers breaching water systems. In recent months, Iranian and Chinese state-backed threat groups have both targeted and breached U.S. water systems. Bleepingcomputer

🌎 US Lawmaker Demands LVMH’s Loro Piana Answer for ‘Exploitation’ in Peru. US lawmaker wants Loro Piana to answer for what he sees as the “exploitation” of Indigenous workers providing raw materials for the Italian fashion house. Bloomberg

🌎 Trial Brings Modern-Day Oil Bribery Scheme to Life. The trial of Javier Aguilar, a former Vitol Group trader, brought to life the inner workings of a modern-day oil-trading bribery scheme in more detail than ever before. Bloomberg

🌎 Former Stericycle Finance Director Charged For Alleged Bribes. Cigarroa and other employees allegedly made payments, typically in cash, to officials, then maintained false books and records. DJ

IN THE NEWS

Russia

🇷🇺 EU general court says former F1 driver Nikita Mazepin should be removed from sanctions list AP

🇷🇺 Russian Neighbor Deals Blow to Putin With Western Pivot Newsweek

🇷🇺 Russia Seized 400 Foreign-Owned Jets. Then an Epic Insurance Fight Began. WSJ

🇷🇺 Foreign firms' Russian 'exit tax' payments at $385M so far in 2024 Reuters

🇷🇺 Russia’s Civil Aviation in the Wake of the Sanctions Wilson Center

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China

🇨🇳 Biggest fraud in Chinese history? Beijing accuses Evergrande of inflating revenues by $78B CNN

🇨🇳 Pair accused of stealing battery manufacturing secrets from Tesla and starting their own company AP

🇨🇳 China starts international manhunt with belt and road corruption in its sights SCMP

Much more news at Illicit Edge!

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Trafficking

🚚 After transgender migrant was shot in Little Village, a cartel-tied Venezuelan was arrested but soon released Chicago Sun-Times

🚚 Florida Governor DeSantis says he’ll send Haitian migrants to Martha’s Vineyard NYP

🚚 Thirty-Eight Pounds of Meth and Cocaine Recovered in Hell’s Kitchen Luxury Building DEA

🚚 Most wanted Colombian gang leader captured in Texas San Antonio Express-News

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Crypto & Cyber

🔐 Ukraine arrests hackers trying to sell 100M stolen accounts Bleepingcomputer

🔐 Coinbase's Allies Join Crypto Firm's Case Against SEC CoinDesk

🔐 US DOJ to target pre-IPO artificial intelligence frauds Reuters

🔐 Euronext will not enter cryptoasset trading without regulator backing Reuters

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Corruption & Financial Crime

💸 Google’s Woke AI Wasn’t a Mistake. We Know. We Were There. Free Press

💸 Mystery among the vines: Why is the FBI probing some of Napa Valley's fanciest wineries? LAT

💸 US Congress deal bars US funds to UNRWA until March 2025 Reuters

💸 FTC to send nearly $100M in refunds to customers of Benefytt's fake health plans CBS

💸 Spanish police search soccer federation headquarters in corruption probe Reuters

Much more news at Illicit Edge!

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