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Category: Crime

  • MIL-OSI Europe: JOINT MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION on the further deterioration of the political situation in Georgia – RC-B10-0106/2025

    Source: European Parliament

    Rasa Juknevičienė, Michael Gahler, Andrzej Halicki, Sebastião Bugalho, David McAllister, Željana Zovko, Isabel Wiseler‑Lima, Antonio López‑Istúriz White, Wouter Beke, Krzysztof Brejza, Daniel Caspary, Andrey Kovatchev, Miriam Lexmann, Reinhold Lopatka, Ana Miguel Pedro, Davor Ivo Stier, Michał Szczerba, Alice Teodorescu Måwe, Inese Vaidere, Michał Wawrykiewicz
    on behalf of the PPE Group
    Yannis Maniatis, Nacho Sánchez Amor, Tobias Cremer
    on behalf of the S&D Group
    Adam Bielan, Rihards Kols, Małgorzata Gosiewska, Mariusz Kamiński, Sebastian Tynkkynen, Veronika Vrecionová, Ondřej Krutílek, Michał Dworczyk, Roberts Zīle, Marlena Maląg, Ivaylo Valchev, Alexandr Vondra, Jadwiga Wiśniewska, Assita Kanko
    on behalf of the ECR Group
    Urmas Paet, Petras Auštrevičius, Malik Azmani, Dan Barna, Helmut Brandstätter, Benoit Cassart, Olivier Chastel, Engin Eroglu, Bernard Guetta, Karin Karlsbro, Michał Kobosko, Ilhan Kyuchyuk, Nathalie Loiseau, Jan‑Christoph Oetjen, Marie‑Agnes Strack‑Zimmermann, Eugen Tomac, Hilde Vautmans, Sophie Wilmès, Dainius Žalimas
    on behalf of the Renew Group
    Reinier Van Lanschot
    on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group

    European Parliament resolution on the further deterioration of the political situation in Georgia

    (2025/2522(RSP))

    The European Parliament,

    – having regard to its previous resolutions on Georgia, in particular that of 28 November 2024 on Georgia’s worsening democratic crisis following the recent parliamentary elections and alleged electoral fraud[1],

    – having regard to Georgia’s status as an EU candidate country, granted by the European Council at its summit of 14 and 15 December 2023,

    – having regard to Article 78 of the Georgian Constitution, which demands the implementation of all possible measures to guarantee Georgia’s complete integration into the EU and NATO,

    – having regard to the final report of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) on the parliamentary elections held in Georgia on 26 October 2024,

    – having regard to Rules 136(2) and (4) of its Rules of Procedure,

    A. whereas the democratic backsliding in Georgia has dramatically accelerated since the parliamentary elections of 26 October 2024, which were deeply flawed and marked by grave irregularities, and failed to meet international democratic standards and Georgia’s OSCE commitments; whereas these elections violated the democratic norms and standards set for free and fair elections, failing to reflect the will of the people and rendering the resulting ‘parliament’, and subsequently the ‘president’, devoid of any democratic legitimacy; whereas from the very beginning of its activity, the current Georgian parliament has operated as a one-party (Georgian Dream) organ, which is incompatible with the essence of pluralistic parliamentary democracy;

    B. whereas Article 2 of the EU-Georgia Association Agreement[2] concerns the general principles of the agreement, which include democratic principles, human rights and fundamental freedoms;

    C. whereas Article 78 of the Georgian Constitution states that the constitutional bodies must take all measures within the scope of their competences to ensure the full integration of Georgia into the European Union;

    D. whereas the President of Georgia, Salome Zourabichvili, publicly condemned the parliamentary elections as rigged, declared that she would not recognise them and called for an international investigation; whereas the current Georgian regime, led by the Georgian Dream party and its founder, Bidzina Ivanishvili, has orchestrated an unconstitutional usurpation of power, systematically dismantling democratic institutions, undermining judicial independence and eroding fundamental freedoms and the rule of law, thereby deepening Georgia’s political and constitutional crisis;

    E. whereas Georgia has officially held the status of EU candidate country since December 2023; whereas on 28 November 2024, Irakli Kobakhidze announced that Georgia would delay initiating accession talks with the EU and reject its financial assistance until the end of 2028, disregarding the country’s constitutional commitment to European integration and effectively undermining Georgia’s sovereign Euro-Atlantic aspirations;

    F. whereas on 28 November 2024, peaceful mass anti-government protests began across the country, demanding new, free and fair elections, an end to political violence and repression, and the return of the country to its European path; whereas the protests have been taking place without interruption for over 75 days;

    G. whereas on 14 December 2024, the de facto parliament held a ‘presidential election’ with a single candidate from the Georgian Dream party, former footballer Mikheil Kavelashvili, elected with 224 out of 225 votes cast;

    H. whereas Georgia’s self-appointed authorities have plunged the country into a fully fledged constitutional and political crisis, as well as a human rights and democracy crisis; whereas this has been marked by the brutal repression of peaceful protesters, political opponents and media representatives, with judges, prosecutors and police officers actively fabricating politically motivated administrative and criminal charges against protesters, journalists and opposition figures detained during peaceful anti-government demonstrations; whereas, as of December 2024, more than 460 people have been arrested or punished since the protests began, with this number growing by the day;

    I. whereas riot police deliberately lacking force identification numbers have forcefully dispersed protesters with tear gas and water cannons; whereas numerous journalists have reported being targeted and beaten, and having their equipment destroyed and personal items stolen; whereas dozens of protesters have been brutally assaulted, and several hundred people have been arrested; whereas Georgia’s Public Defender has revealed that 80 % of those detained reported experiencing violence and inhumane treatment at the hands of law enforcement officers; whereas despite international condemnation, the illegitimate Georgian Government has awarded medals to officials involved in the crackdown;

    J. whereas independent media outlets, including TV Formula, TV Mtavari and TV Pirveli, face severe operational and financial constraints due to the regime’s interference, while dozens of media representatives are being subjected to various forms of intense physical and psychological pressure; whereas numerous violent attacks on journalists have been documented, including the severe beatings of Aleksandre Keshelashvili, Maka Chikhladze and Giorgi Shetsiruli, and the harassment of detained journalist Saba Kevkhishvili; whereas on 12 January 2025, the Georgian authorities arrested journalist Mzia Amaghlobeli, who has been in pre-trial detention since then and is on hunger strike in solidarity with all political prisoners in Georgia; whereas she faces between four and seven years in prison;

    K. whereas, on the night of 14 January 2025, Giorgi Gakharia, opposition leader of the For Georgia party and former Prime Minister, and Zviad Koridze, journalist and Transparency International activist, were physically assaulted by Georgian Dream officials in separate incidents at the same venue in Batumi;

    L. whereas on 2 February 2025, Nika Melia, a leader of the pro-European Akhali party, and Gigi Ugulava, the former mayor of Tbilisi, were arrested during the anti-government protests and subjected to physical violence in detention; whereas on 12 January 2025, Elene Khoshtaria, leader of the Droa political movement, was detained in Batumi;

    M. whereas the de facto Georgian authorities have used disproportionate force and excessive violence against peaceful protesters and resorted to arbitrary mass arrests to thwart dissent; whereas independent human rights organisations have reported the systemic mistreatment of detainees, including torture; whereas to date, not a single law enforcement official involved in the brutal crackdowns, arbitrary arrests and mistreatment has been brought to justice;

    N. whereas the self-appointed authorities introduced new draconian legislation that came into force on 30 December 2024 and amended the Criminal Code, the Code of Administrative Offences and the Law on Assemblies and Manifestations, imposing further arbitrary restrictions on the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, introducing, among other things, hefty fines for putting up protest slogans and posters, and granting police the power to detain individuals ‘preventively’ for 48 hours on suspicion of planning to violate the rules governing public assembly; whereas on 3 February 2025, the Georgian Dream party unveiled further draft legislation designed to tighten control, ramping up penalties for a variety of offences directly targeting protestors, critics and political dissent, such as harsher punishments for ‘insulting officials’, the criminalisation of road blocks and an increase in the duration of administrative detention from 15 to 60 days;

    O. whereas on 27 January 2025, the Council decided to suspend parts of the EU-Georgia visa facilitation agreement for Georgian diplomats and officials, but failed to impose individual sanctions in response to the continued crackdown; whereas the Hungarian and Slovak Governments have been consistently blocking impactful EU-wide sanctions, preventing the remaining 25 Member States (EU-25) from effectively introducing sanctions against the self-appointed Georgian authorities;

    P. whereas several Member States, including Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia and Czechia, have imposed bilateral sanctions on some Georgian politicians, judges and other officials responsible for the brutal crackdown on protesters, violations of human rights and abuse of the rule of law; whereas in December 2024, the United States sanctioned Bidzina Ivanishvili, alongside Georgia’s ‘Minister of Internal Affairs’ Vakhtang Gomelauri and Deputy Head of the Special Tasks Department Mirza Kezevadze, for their involvement in brutal crackdowns on media representatives, opposition figures and protesters; whereas the UK and Ukraine have imposed similar sanctions on high-level Georgian officials; whereas Ivanishvili, through hastily adopted laws tailored to his personal situation, is moving his offshore assets to Georgia in anticipation of further sanctions;

    Q. whereas on 29 January 2025, Georgian Dream announced that it would withdraw its delegation from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) after it demanded new, genuinely democratic parliamentary elections, the release of political prisoners and accountability for perpetrators of violence; whereas UN experts have condemned the pattern of repression and human rights violations in Georgia, while the OSCE has called this suppression a serious breach of the right to freedom of assembly;

    R. whereas the ruling Georgian Dream party convened the new parliament in violation of the country’s constitution, resulting in a boycott of parliament by the opposition; whereas on 5 February 2025, the self-appointed ‘parliament’ voted to approve the early termination of the mandates of 49 out of 61 members of parliament, representing the Coalition for Change, Strong Georgia and the United National Movement, in order to strip them of their immunity and facilitate their arrest and prosecution; whereas the same ‘parliament’ established a commission to punish former ruling party United National Movement;

    S. whereas a growing number of civil servants have been dismissed after speaking out against the halting of Georgia’s EU accession process; whereas Georgian Dream has amended laws on public service, simplifying procedures to dismiss public servants, several of whom have been dismissed for participating in protests, in a clear attempt to silence critical voices;

    1. Condemns the Georgian Dream ‘authorities’ and urges them to immediately cease the violent repression of peaceful protesters, political opponents and media representatives; underlines that Georgia’s self-appointed authorities are currently violating fundamental freedoms, basic human rights and the core international obligations of the country, thereby undermining decades of democratic reforms driven by the country’s political class and civil society; considers Georgia as a state captured by the illegitimate Georgian Dream regime; expresses deep regret over the fact that the ruling Georgian Dream party has abandoned its path towards European integration and NATO membership; recalls that the ongoing democratic backsliding and adoption of anti-democratic laws has effectively suspended Georgia’s EU integration process; reiterates its unwavering support for the Georgian people’s legitimate European aspirations and their wish to live in a prosperous and democratic country;

    2. Does not recognise the self-proclaimed authorities of the Georgian Dream party established following the rigged election of 26 October 2024, which was neither free nor fair, was held in violation of democratic norms and standards, and did not reflect the will of the people of Georgia; underlines that the extensive electoral fraud has undermined the integrity of the election process, cast doubt on the legitimacy of the result and eroded public trust, both domestically and internationally, in any new government;

    3. Calls for the EU and its Member States, as well as national parliaments and interparliamentary institutions, not to recognise the legitimacy of the Georgian Dream one-party parliament and their appointed president; calls, therefore, on the international community to join the boycott of the self-proclaimed Georgian authorities;

    4. Continues to recognise Salome Zourabichvili as the legitimate President of Georgia and representative of the Georgian people; praises her efforts to peacefully steer the country back towards a democratic and European path of development; calls on the President of the European Council to invite President Zourabichvili to represent Georgia at an upcoming European Council meeting and at the next European Political Community summit;

    5. Underlines that the settlement of the current political and constitutional crisis in Georgia can only be achieved by way of new parliamentary elections; demands that new elections take place in Georgia within the next few months in an improved electoral environment, overseen by an independent and impartial election administration and monitored through diligent international observation to guarantee a genuinely fair, free and transparent process; encourages the Member States and EU officials to firmly demand new elections and to make any future engagement explicitly conditional on setting a new date for parliamentary elections and establishing a mechanism to ensure they are free and fair;

    6. Calls on the Council and the Member States, particularly the EU-25 on a bilateral and coordinated basis, to impose immediate and targeted personal sanctions on Bidzina Ivanishvili, his family and his companies, and to freeze all his assets within the EU for his role in the deterioration of the political process in Georgia, enabling democratic backsliding and acting against the country’s constitutionally declared interests of Euro-Atlantic integration; calls on the French Government to strip Bidzina Ivanishvili of the Legion of Honour and impose individual sanctions on him; welcomes, in this regard, the sanctions imposed bilaterally by Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Czechia, as well as those already imposed by the US and the UK;

    7. Calls for the EU and its Member States, in particular the EU-25 on a bilateral and coordinated basis, to impose personal sanctions on the officials and political leaders in Georgia responsible for democratic backsliding, electoral fraud, human rights violations and the persecution of political opponents and activists, including Irakli Kobakhidze, Shalva Papuashvili, Vakhtang Gomelauri, Mayor of Tbilisi and Secretary General of the ruling Georgian Dream party Kakha Kaladze, and Chair of the Georgian Dream party Irakli Garibashvili; calls for them to extend these sanctions to judges, including those of the Constitutional Court of Georgia who are passing politically motivated sentences, and representatives of the law enforcement services, as well as to financial enablers tacitly or openly supporting the regime and the owners of regime-aligned media outlets, including TV Imedi, Pos TV and Rustavi 2 TV, for their role in spreading disinformation and seeking to manipulate public discourse in order to sustain the current ruling party’s authoritarian rule;

    8. Calls on the Council and the Member States to impose sanctions on Bidzina Ivanishvili’s network of enablers, elite entourage, corrupt financial operatives, propagandists and those facilitating the repressive state apparatus, including, among others, Ekaterine Khvedelidze, Uta Ivanishvili, Tsotne Ivanishvili, Bera Ivanishvili, Gvantsa Ivanishvili, Alexander Ivanishvili, Shmagi Kobakhidze, Ucha Mamatsashvili, Natia Turnava, Ivane Chkhartishvili, Sulkhan Papashvili, Giorgi Kapanadze, Tornike Rizhvadze, Ilia Tsulaia, Kakha Bekauri, Lasha Natsvlishvili, Vasil Maglaperidze, Grigol Liluashvili, Mikheil Chinchaladze, Levan Murusidze, Irakli Rukhadze, Tinatin Berdzenishvili, Tamaz Gaiashvili, Anton Obolashvili and Gocha Enukidze;

    9. Maintains the view that the measures taken so far by the EU in response to the flagrant democratic backsliding and reneging on previous commitments does not yet fully reflect the severity of the situation in Georgia and the latest developments; welcomes the Council’s decision to suspend visa-free travel for Georgian diplomats and officials, but considers it as only a first step, which must be followed by tougher measures; deplores the obstruction by the Hungarian and Slovak Governments of the Council decisions on introducing sanctions against individuals responsible for democratic backsliding in Georgia;

    10. Emphasises that respect for fundamental rights is vital to the EU’s visa liberalisation benchmarks; reiterates its call on the Commission and the Council to review Georgia’s visa-free status, with the possibility of suspension if it is considered that EU standards on democratic governance and freedoms are not being upheld;

    11. Strongly condemns the brutal violence and repression used by Georgia’s ruling regime against peaceful protesters since 28 November 2024; calls for the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners and those detained during the anti-government protests; demands the release of journalist Mzia Amaghlobeli, who has been on hunger strike for over four weeks now because of her unjust detention and risks facing critical, irreversible and life-threatening consequences; denounces the assault and beating of former Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia, resulting in his hospitalisation, followed by the arrest on 2 February 2025 of political leaders including Nika Melia and Gigi Ugulava, as a shocking escalation of state-orchestrated violence by Georgian Dream and its allies against peaceful demonstrators and political opponents; reminds of the detention of Elene Khoshtaria on 12 January 2025 in Batumi; 

    12. Reiterates its solidarity with the people of Georgia and its vibrant civil society in fighting for their legitimate democratic rights and for a European future for their country; urges the Georgian Government to reverse its current political course and return to implementing the will of the Georgian people for continued democratic reforms that would reopen the prospect of future EU membership;

    13. Strongly condemns the enactment of draconian legislation that imposes unjustified restrictions on freedoms of expression and peaceful assembly, and demands the annulment of such recently adopted repressive legislation; urges the Georgian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release all individuals detained for peacefully exercising their fundamental rights to freedoms of expression and peaceful assembly, and to ensure prompt, thorough and impartial investigations into all allegations of unlawful and disproportionate use of force by the law enforcement agencies; considers that the Georgian justice system has been weaponised to stifle dissent, instil fear and silence free speech;

    14. Calls for the ‘Georgian authorities’ to take immediate action to ensure the safety and freedom of journalists and to investigate all instances of violence and misconduct by law enforcement agencies; emphasises the importance of fostering a democratic environment where media, civil society and the opposition can operate freely without fear of retaliation or censorship;

    15. Demands an independent, transparent and impartial investigation into police brutality and the excessive use of force against peaceful demonstrators; calls for those responsible for human rights violations, including law enforcement and government officials ordering acts of repression, to be held fully accountable before the law;

    16. Denounces the launch of an investigation by the Prosecutor’s Office on 8 February 2025 into non-governmental organisations accused of aggravated sabotage, attempted sabotage and assisting foreign and foreign-controlled organisations in hostile activities aimed at undermining the state interests of Georgia, for which they could receive multiple-year sentences; views this action as further escalation of repression by the regime, misuse of the judicial system and accelerated democratic backsliding;

    17. Condemns the broader campaign of attacks by the Georgian authorities vilifying civil society organisations and reputable international donors that support democracy, the rule of law and the protection of human rights in Georgia;

    18. Denounces the termination by Georgian Dream of the mandates of 49 opposition members of parliament as a sign of further democratic backsliding, and considers this the latest move in Georgian Dream’s attack on political pluralism in the country;

    19. Welcomes PACE’s decision to challenge the credentials of Georgia’s parliamentary delegation due to democratic backsliding and human rights abuses; supports PACE’s call for Georgia to immediately initiate an inclusive process involving all political and social actors, including the ruling party, the opposition and civil society, to urgently address the deficiencies and shortcomings noted during the recent parliamentary elections and to create an electoral environment conducive to new, genuinely democratic elections to be announced in the coming months;

    20. Notes that Georgia, once a front runner for Euro-Atlantic integration, is undergoing an accelerated process of democratic backsliding, in a seemingly deliberate attempt to demonstrate that the will of the Georgian people no longer determines the country’s future, which could result in the country taking the Belarussian path of political development, transitioning from the current authoritarian state to a dictatorial regime;

    21. Deplores the decision of Irakli Kobakhidze to suspend accession talks and reject EU funding until the end of 2028; recalls that all polls consistently show the overwhelming support of the Georgian population for a Euro-Atlantic future; expresses strong support for the Euro-Atlantic aspirations of the Georgian people;

    22. Calls for an immediate and comprehensive audit of EU policy towards Georgia due to the democratic backsliding; calls on the Commission to review the EU-Georgia Association Agreement in the light of the self-declared Georgian authorities’ breach of the general principles, as laid down in Article 2, namely respect for democratic principles, the rule of law and fundamental freedoms; points out that non-fulfilment of obligations may result in the conditional suspension of economic cooperation and privileges afforded by the Agreement;

    23. Welcomes the Commission’s decision to cease all budgetary support to the Georgian authorities and to suspend the initiation of any future investment projects; encourages the Commission to terminate all financial support for ongoing projects; calls for a moratorium on all investment projects in the field of connectivity; calls on the Commission to start identifying economic sectors of relevance to the oligarchic interests that support and sustain the current authoritarian rule, with a view to a potential future decision about restrictive measures or economic sanctions; calls on the Commission to start identifying connectivity projects that support and sustain the current authoritarian rule and to consider their suspension until a rerun of the parliamentary elections;

    24. Condemns the climate of intimidation and polarisation fuelled by statements by Georgian Government representatives and political leaders, as well as by attacks against political pluralism, including through disturbing cases of intimidation and violence against the Georgian democratic political forces and repeated threats to ban opposition parties, to arrest their leaders and even ordinary supporters, and to silence dissent; underlines that anything but the full restoration of Georgia’s democratic standards will entail a further deterioration of EU-Georgia relations, make any move towards EU accession impossible and result in additional sanctions;

    25. Calls on the Commission to swiftly redirect the frozen EUR 120 million originally intended as support for the Georgian authorities to enhance the EU’s support for Georgia’s civil society, in particular the non-governmental sector and independent media, which are increasingly coming under undue pressure from the ruling political party and the authorities, as well as to support programmes supporting democratic resilience and electoral integrity; calls for the EU’s funding mechanisms to be adjusted to take into account the needs that arise in a more hostile and anti-democratic environment; highlights the urgency of the need to support civil society in the light of growing repression and the suspension of activities of the US Agency for International Development (USAID), and therefore urges the Commission to ramp up support without delay;

    26. Expresses deep concern about the increasing Russian influence in the country and about the Georgian Dream government’s actions in pursuing a policy of rapprochement and collaboration with Russia, in spite of its creeping occupation of Georgian territory; deplores, in this regard, the growing anti-Western and hostile rhetoric of the Georgian Dream party’s representatives towards Georgia’s strategic Western partners, including the EU, and its MEPs and officials, and Georgian Dream’s promotion of Russian disinformation and manipulation;

    27. Strongly reiterates its urgent demand for the immediate release of former President Mikheil Saakashvili on humanitarian grounds, specifically for the purpose of seeking medical treatment abroad; emphasises that the self-appointed authorities bear full and undeniable responsibility for the life, health, safety and well-being of former President Mikheil Saakashvili and must be held fully accountable for any harm that befalls him;

    28. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the Council, the Commission, the governments and parliaments of the Member States, the Council of Europe, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and the self-appointed authorities of Georgia.

     

     

    MIL OSI Europe News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Cantwell Introduces Coast Guard Reauthorization Bill, Secures Wins for WA Environment & Tribes

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Washington Maria Cantwell
    02.12.25
    Cantwell Introduces Coast Guard Reauthorization Bill, Secures Wins for WA Environment & Tribes
    Bill would authorize USCG “Whale Desk” for additional 2 years to help ships steer clear of Puget Sound Orcas and other whales
    WASHINGTON, D.C. – Yesterday, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, introduced the bipartisan Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2025 that would reauthorize $30.45 billion for the U.S. Coast Guard for Fiscal Years 2025 and 2026.
    “This legislation prioritizes the Coast Guard’s most important asset—the men and women of the Coast Guard, and their families,” said Sen. Cantwell. “The bill drives much needed reforms that will help prevent sexual assault and sexual harassment throughout the Coast Guard, including establishing confidential reporting, strengthening protective orders, expanding access to care for victims, and stronger accountability for leadership. Admiral Fagan made great progress during her term, and the next Commandant will need to continue to be a steady force that stands up for service members.
    “The bill also establishes a new Vice Admiral dedicated to improving recruitment, health care and child care for members. The bill also increases funding for core Coast Guard missions such as shipbuilding and cracking down on illegal fishing and drug smuggling.”
    Among many important provisions, the legislation includes historic protections for sexual assault and harassment, boosts workforce development programs and availability of affordable housing, increases funding to help U.S. Coast Guard deliver on critical priorities such as icebreakers and 52-foot heavy-weather lifeboats, raises penalties for abandoned and derelict vessels, and encourages more collaboration with Tribes.
    The legislation authorizes $14.93 billion for FY25 and $15.51 billion for FY26. The full bill text of the bipartisan U.S. Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2025 is available HERE. 
    Sen. Cantwell secured language for programs critical to Washington state in the legislation. Among those provisions, her bipartisan legislation:
    Expands Affordable Housing Opportunities: Allows the Coast Guard to acquire housing that is available both on the market and in new housing construction programs. This is particularly important in coastal areas — like Cape Disappointment, Grays Harbor, and Port Angeles — where Coast Guard families face a difficult time accessing affordable, quality housing due to competition with seasonal rentals and other challenges associated with remote units. This bill also expands the Coast Guard’s ability to enter into long-term leases for medical facilities, child development centers, and training facilities to expand access to services for Coast Guard families while reducing administrative overhead expenses and allowing for additional improvements to these facilities.
    Increases Federal Funding to Deliver on Icebreakers and Heavy Weather Lifeboats: The legislation increases authorized funding by 30% compared to 2024 appropriated funding levels, which will help the Coast Guard deliver on critical priorities such as polar icebreakers, 52-foot heavy-weather lifeboats, and other priority acquisition programs.
    Seattle will be home for the Coast Guard’s fleet of 3 polar icebreakers.
    Sen. Cantwell recently toured U.S. Coast Guard Station Disappointment, where the future fleet of heavy-weather lifeboats will be homeported to support search and rescue missions, which is critical to safety of people working in the fishing and maritime sector in Pacific and Grays Harbor counties. In 2023, Sen. Cantwell secured a downpayment of $12 million to replace the heavy-weather boats in the 2023 Appropriations Act.
    Creates the First-Ever Tribal Advisor: Creates a new senior position within the Coast Guard to advise the Commandant and other Coast Guard leaders on how the Coast Guard can work more closely with Tribes. The new Special Advisor would also be charged with ensuring the Coast Guard upholds trust responsibilities to tribal governments, improving tribal engagement and consultation activities, and ensuring that Tribes have a voice on Coast Guard programs that impact tribes including oil spill preparedness and response, fisheries oversight, and the protection of natural resources.
    Boosts Local Tribal Partnerships to Improve Conservation: Provides the Coast Guard with new authorities to support habitat conservation and other resilience projects with state, local, and tribal governments. This important new authority would ensure tribes and other organizations can partner with the Coast Guard to protect treaty fishing rights and maintain access to cultural and natural resources.
    Reauthorizes the Whale Desk: Extends the Whale Desk at Coast Guard Sector Puget Sound by two years, through FY2028. Authored by Senator Cantwell in the Coast Guard Reauthorization Act of 2022, the “Whale Desk” at Sector Puget Sound gives vessel operators and mariners near real-time data about the location of whales to reduce encounters that disturb whales, including noise pollution and ship strikes. The pilot program also includes a “hotline” where callers can report whale sightings in real time. The data collected will be valuable for researchers who track whale migration patterns.
    According to the Coast Guard, 75 whale sightings have been reported to the Sector Puget Sound Whale Desk since its opening in December 2023.
    Sen. Cantwell helped celebrate the launch of the Whale Desk in February 2024. Photos and videos are available HERE and HERE.
    Supports the Commercial Fishing and Maritime Industries: Continues to authorize the use of a satellite tracking system to mark fishing gear locations, which ensures gear is not lost and avoids potential damage by derelict gear. It also supports fishing vessels engaging in temporary towing operations as part of salmon hatchery development in Alaska.  The bill also creates new training and credentialing opportunities for qualified mariners, veterans, and the general public seeking to become mariners. It also expedites processing times for merchant mariner licensing documents to help close this critical workforce gap.
    Maps Arctic Maritime Routes: The Bering Sea is expected to see increased fishing, commercial, and other vessel traffic over the coming decades. As a key international trade and maritime route, this bill requires an analysis of projected traffic in the Bering Strait, and the emergency response capabilities and infrastructure needed to support this increased vessel traffic and prevent oil spills in the Bering Sea and the Arctic.
    Boosts International Pacific Cooperation: Requires the Coast Guard to develop a plan to increase international training opportunities in the Pacific, including with the Taiwan Coast Guard. This coordination will strengthen American relations, combat illegal fishing, and boost international security in the Pacific.
    Cracks Down on Abandoned Vessels: Improves oversight of derelict and abandoned vessels by requiring the Coast Guard to develop and maintain an inventory list of these vessels to improve tracking, management, and coordination between federal, state, tribal, and other relevant entities. It authorizes a new federal penalty of $500 a day for abandoning vessels.
    Abandoned and derelict vessels pose unique and costly threats to coastal communities and ecosystems by leaking pollutants and imperiling marine traffic. According to the WA Department of Natural Resources, DNR removed 319 derelict and abandoned boats from Washington state waterways 2021-2023.
    Protects Personnel from Illicit Drug/Fentanyl Exposure: As the Coast Guard carries out important drug interdiction missions to stop the flow of illegal drugs, this bill requires all installations to maintain a supply of naloxone or similar medication to treat opioid or fentanyl overdoses or exposure by Coast Guard members and the public in search and rescue or response calls.
    Require Stronger Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment (SASH) Prevention and Response: The bill would establish or update numerous Coast Guard and Academy authorities and programs to improve reporting, oversight, prevention, and accountability related to sexual misconduct. These provisions were drafted in response to Operation Fouled Anchor, which revealed gross mishandling of sexual assault and sexual harassment cases of U.S. Coast Guard personnel.
    A full breakdown of these protections is available HERE.
    Supporting Coast Guard Families Stationed in Washington:
    Creates the First Vice Admiral of Personnel: To support the more than 40,000 active service members, the bill establishes a new Vice Admiral leadership position solely focused on supporting the needs of personnel and their families, from housing to health care, investments in childcare, and improving recruitment and training programs.
    Jump Starts Hiring of Health and Family Service Providers Across Entire Service: Provides direct hiring authority to swiftly fill more than a hundred vacancies, including behavioral and mental health professionals, medical specialists, childcare service providers, housing supervisors, criminal investigators, and other positions to protect the health and wellbeing of Coast Guard members and their families. It also adds two new telemedicine rooms at the Coast Guard Academy.
    Improves College-to-Service Career Pathways: Updates the College Student Pre-Commissioning Program to allow more colleges and universities to participate and to increase recruitment of students interested in commissioning into a Coast Guard career. 
    Prepares Tsunami Evacuation Plans: Requires the development of tsunami evacuation and preparedness plans for Coast Guard units in tsunami zones, including across the West Coast and Pacific Northwest. It also requires the Coast Guard to consider vertical evacuation as a lifesaving option for Coast Guard members.
    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
    Supports NOAA Corps Officers: To support the hundreds of NOAA’s commissioned officers, the bill makes improvements to personnel management, education assistance programs, pilot recruitment programs, and more. NOAA Corps members help manage maritime research, support disaster response, and monitor weather forecasting including hurricanes and atmospheric rivers, as well as performing other cutting-edge weather forecast and research needs.
    Modernizes NOAA Vessel Fleet: Authorizes replacement and modernization of the NOAA research vessel fleet and improves oversight of the fleet, which helps maintain our nation’s weather and scientific buoy network, conducts fisheries research, maps the ocean floor including in the Arctic, and supports other important oceanographic and conservation priorities.
    Removes Aging NOAA Vessels: Allows NOAA to use the proceeds of obsolete vessel sales to support the acquisition or repair of other NOAA vessels to help make the fleet more resilient in the future.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Europe: Answer to a written question – Georgia’s newly adopted anti-LGBTIQ+ law – E-001891/2024(ASW)

    Source: European Parliament

    The EU has stressed that the legislative measures in Georgia targeting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer (LGBTIQ) people undermine the fundamental rights of Georgians, and that this, and other negative developments, severely affect Georgia’s EU trajectory[1].

    The rights of LGBTIQ persons fall within the negotiations on Chapter 23 of the acquis on Judiciary and Fundamental Rights and therefore under the ‘fundamentals’ for EU accession[2], which determine the overall pace of the negotiations.

    Following recent developments, including with respect to LGBTIQ persons , and in line with the European Council conclusions of June 2024[3], the Commission took concrete measures halting high-level engagement with Georgia and conducting a review of its financial assistance. Over EUR 120 million from the 2022-2024 envelope were withheld or will be reallocated.

    The designation of safe countries of origin does not alter Member States’ obligation under EU law to examine applications for international protection and to grant such protection where the conditions are met.

    Being aware of the risks faced by LGBTIQ people in Georgia, the Commission supports the protection of their rights. EU-funded project[4] offer legal aid to vulnerable groups, including LGBTIQ individuals.

    Significant support has also been provided to strengthen the civil society capacity to monitor the situation and promote the advancement of human rights.

    • [1] https://www.eeas.europa.eu/eeas/georgia-statement-spokesperson-legislative-package-family-values-and-protection-minors_en?s=221
    • [2] Under the 2020 revised Enlargement Methodology: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:52020DC0057
    • [3] https://www.consilium.europa.eu/media/qa3lblga/euco-conclusions-27062024-en.pdf
    • [4] https://euneighbourseast.eu/projects/eu-project-page/?id=2183
    Last updated: 12 February 2025

    MIL OSI Europe News –

  • MIL-OSI Europe: JOINT MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION on repression by the Ortega-Murillo regime in Nicaragua, targeting human rights defenders, political opponents and religious communities in particular – RC-B10-0126/2025

    Source: European Parliament

    pursuant to Rules 150(5) and 136(4) of the Rules of Procedure
    replacing the following motions:
    B10‑0126/2025 (PPE)
    B10‑0128/2025 (Verts/ALE)
    B10‑0131/2025 (Renew)
    B10‑0134/2025 (S&D)
    B10‑0135/2024 (ECR)

    Sebastião Bugalho, Željana Zovko, Antonio López‑Istúriz White, Gabriel Mato, David McAllister, Vangelis Meimarakis, Wouter Beke, Isabel Wiseler‑Lima, Ingeborg Ter Laak, Tomáš Zdechovský, Mirosława Nykiel, Jessica Polfjärd, Luděk Niedermayer, Jan Farský, Andrey Kovatchev, Inese Vaidere
    on behalf of the PPE Group
    Yannis Maniatis, Francisco Assis, Leire Pajín
    on behalf of the S&D Group
    Adam Bielan, Arkadiusz Mularczyk, Joachim Stanisław Brudziński, Carlo Fidanza, Alberico Gambino, Małgorzata Gosiewska, Assita Kanko, Mariusz Kamiński, Marlena Maląg, Bogdan Rzońca, Waldemar Tomaszewski, Sebastian Tynkkynen, Ivaylo Valchev, Jadwiga Wiśniewska
    on behalf of the ECR Group
    Bernard Guetta, Oihane Agirregoitia Martínez, Petras Auštrevičius, Malik Azmani, Dan Barna, Benoit Cassart, Olivier Chastel, Engin Eroglu, Karin Karlsbro, Ľubica Karvašová, Ilhan Kyuchyuk, Urmas Paet, Marie‑Agnes Strack‑Zimmermann, Hilde Vautmans, Lucia Yar
    on behalf of the Renew Group
    Catarina Vieira
    on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group

    Document selected :  

    RC-B10-0126/2025

    Texts tabled :

    RC-B10-0126/2025

    Texts adopted :

    European Parliament resolution on repression by the Ortega-Murillo regime in Nicaragua, targeting human rights defenders, political opponents and religious communities in particular

    (2025/2547(RSP))

    The European Parliament,

    – having regard to its previous resolutions on Nicaragua,

    – having regard to Rules 150(5) and 136(4) of its Rules of Procedure,

    A. whereas since 2018, the Nicaraguan regime has systematically, repeatedly and arbitrarily persecuted human rights defenders (HRDs), opposition and religious representatives, among others; whereas over 5 600 NGOs have been dissolved, including religious groups – mainly Catholic – and their assets confiscated;

    B. whereas imprisoned political opponents, along with HRDs, have been expelled from the country, stripped of their nationality and deprived of their political rights; whereas since 2018, 245 members of the clergy have been arbitrarily arrested or expelled, including Bishop Rolando Álvarez, Sakharov Prize finalist;

    C. whereas in January 2025, the regime passed a constitutional reform that eliminates the separation of powers and political pluralism, establishing an Ortega-Murillo co-presidency that controls all branches of government, independent institutions and the media, and ignores adherence to international human rights conventions and treaties;

    1. Strongly condemns the Ortega-Murillo regime’s widespread, systemic human rights violations against its population, democratic opposition, students, civil society organisations (CSOs) and its persecution of religious leaders, primarily Catholic; urges the immediate release of all those arbitrarily detained, and the restoration of the rule of law and the legal status of all organisations, freedoms and the rights of exiled individuals, including their safe return; insists that these are essential conditions for any prospect of meaningful dialogue;

    2. Denounces the use of statelessness and exile as a weapon against dissenting voices; reiterates the need to end restrictions on civic space and to respect the right to dissent;

    3. Calls on the Ortega-Murillo regime to reverse its constitutional reform and all repressive laws institutionalising totalitarianism, to fully respect its international human rights obligations, and to implement the recommendations made by the UN Group of Human Rights Experts on Nicaragua; calls for its mandate to be extended;

    4. Calls for the EU to include specific guarantees of human rights compliance when allocating EU funds, including through multilateral and financial institutions, and to ensure that the funds do not contribute to strengthening the Ortega-Murillo regime;

    5. Highlights the key role played by CSOs, HRDs, the Catholic Church and journalists in Nicaragua; calls for the EU to reinforce its regular dialogue with them, including those in exile, to support their vital work, as well as countries receiving migrants fleeing Nicaragua, such as Costa Rica;

    6. Calls on the Member States, in accordance with the Rome Statute, to open investigations through the International Criminal Court into the Ortega-Murillo regime for crimes against humanity;

    7. Reiterates its demand that the democratic clause of the EU Association Agreement be triggered; rejects any prospect of holding any parliamentary dialogue with members of Nicaragua’s regime-controlled National Assembly;

    8. Reiterates its call to expand the list of sanctioned individuals to include Ortega, Rosario Murillo and their inner circle;

    9. Calls for the immediate extradition of Alessio Casimirri to Italy;

    10. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, Commission, the VP/HR, the Member States and the Nicaraguan authorities.

     

     

    MIL OSI Europe News –

  • MIL-OSI Europe: Answer to a written question – Mexican national security strategy under government headed by President Sheinbaum – E-002686/2024(ASW)

    Source: European Parliament

    The fight against organised crime is a shared challenge and priority for the EU and Mexico. The EU closely follows the Mexican government’s new security strategy,

    As indicated in the reply to your Question E -002382/2024 from 31 October 2024, the EU remains committed to cooperating with and supporting Mexico to address security and drug trafficking, notably through the programme of the EU with Latin America and the Caribbean against Transnational Organised Crime EL PACCTO[1] and the Cooperation Program between Latin America, the Caribbean and the EU on drug policy COPOLAD[2].

    The EU makes use of the appropriate tools to ensure a sound management of EU funds at all stages of the project management cycle, notably through monitoring and evaluation.

    Reinforcing EU-Mexico cooperation in the fight against firearms trafficking is also a shared priority. The EU seeks to improve international cooperation of law enforcement services.

    The EU has been encouraging Mexico to increase its involvement in the operational actions of the European Multiplatform against criminal threats (EMPACT) firearms and of the network of Police Specialized in Arms Trafficking (red ARCO), which is part of the EU programme El PACCTO.

    Regarding allegations that a percentage of firearms seized in Mexico is originating from EU Member States, the Commission underlines that it has no access to the operations of exportation, as it is a national competence. EU law governing the export of firearms for civilian use[3] has safeguards to ensure legal transactions.

    The EU recently adopted a recast Regulation that introduces, inter alia, more safeguards such as the issue of a user statement regarding the final use, the need for a proof of receipt and the possibility to carry out post-shipment checks.

    • [1] https://elpaccto.eu/en/
    • [2] https://copolad.eu/en/
    • [3] Regulation (EU) No 258/2012.
    Last updated: 12 February 2025

    MIL OSI Europe News –

  • MIL-OSI Europe: Answer to a written question – Human rights in the Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine – E-002933/2024(ASW)

    Source: European Parliament

    The EU has taken significant steps to address Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea, leading to the oppression of Crimeans and turning the peninsula into a base for Russia’s war of aggression launched in February 2022. The EU will never recognise this annexation, which violates international law.

    The policy of non-recognition includes diplomatic pressure, sanctions, and restrictions since 2014, as well as non-recognition of any Russian passport issued in Crimea.

    Since July 2022, the EU has imposed sanctions on 45 individuals and two entities responsible for the illegal deportation and forcible transfer of Ukrainians, and 16 individuals and five entities for the ‘re-education’ and militarisation of Ukrainian children.

    These sanctions aim to pressure Russia to cease its violations and hold perpetrators accountable. Additionally, the EU has supported efforts at the United Nations and other platforms to document and condemn Russia’s actions.

    The High Representative/Vice-President will continue to reinforce these measures and to propose new listings related to human rights violations.

    The EU will continue engaging with civil society and human rights advocates to monitor and hold regular dialogues on Crimea and other occupied territories.

    The EU keeps pressing for stronger international action to ensure Russia is held accountable. The EU will work on further diplomatic, legal, and humanitarian initiatives to protect Ukrainians and preserve their identity.

    Last updated: 12 February 2025

    MIL OSI Europe News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: New Haven Man Pleads Guilty to Narcotics Trafficking Charge

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    Marc H. Silverman, Acting United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, today announced that JOSHUWA DIAZ, 34, of New Haven, pleaded guilty yesterday before U.S. District Judge Vernon D. Oliver in Hartford to a narcotics trafficking offense.

    According to court documents and statements made in court, Diaz was arrested on February 16, 2024, after a court-authorized search of his apartment on Orange Street in New Haven revealed approximately 75 grams of fentanyl, 278 grams of cocaine, 47 grams of crack cocaine, and a loaded P80 handgun with no serial number (“ghost gun”).

    Diaz pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute cocaine, cocaine base (“crack”), and fentanyl, an offense that carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years.  Judge Oliver scheduled sentencing for May 7.

    Diaz is released on a $50,000 bond pending sentencing.

    In April 2013, Diaz was sentenced in New Haven federal court to 78 months of imprisonment for distributing heroin.

    This investigation has been conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration New Haven Task Force, which includes members from the DEA, U.S. Marshals Service, Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation Division, Connecticut State Police and the New Haven, Waterbury, East Haven, Branford, West Haven, Ansonia, Meriden, Naugatuck, and Shelton Police Departments.

    The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Brendan Keefe.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: New Eurojust-hosted project widens scope of actions against impunity for war crimes and genocide beyond EU

    Source: Eurojust

    National Authorities Against Impunity (IMPNA) project

    View leaflet

    The practical aim of this project is to assist CSOs at regional and local level and set up platforms for their cooperation with judicial authorities outside the EU. This will assist organisations in dealing with the increase in violations of human rights due to the sharp rise of armed conflicts across the globe. 

    The number of armed conflicts worldwide has doubled over the last five years, according to Armed Conflict Location and Event Data (ACLED). This has led to a stark increase in war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity, so-called core international crimes. This brings particular challenges for the international community to pursue accountability in order to get justice done for the victims by exercising universal and extraterritorial jurisdiction. 

    Commenting on the launch of IMPNA, Eurojust Vice-President Ms Margarita Šniutytė-Daugėlienė said: ‘The fight against impunity for the most atrocious crimes requires cooperation on the broadest level to make sure perpetrators can be brought to justice. Especially with the rise of armed conflicts around the world, we need to work with as many actors as possible: national authorities, the International Criminal Court, fact-finding missions, the United Nations and civil society organisations. For this reason, I very much welcome this new project, as it will give a major impetus to cooperation efforts in the interest of all victims of core international crimes.’

    EU Member States constitute the majority of countries that initiate investigations and prosecutions in response to atrocities committed worldwide. Yet the nature and potential impact of universal jurisdiction calls for its use globally. By widening the scope of judicial actions against core international crimes, across regions and situations, the number of ’safe havens’ for perpetrators can be limited. 

    Furthermore, the fight against impunity benefits from the contribution of various actors who seek to advance the cause of justice. These include national authorities, international and hybrid criminal courts and tribunals, investigative mechanisms and fact-finding missions mandated by the United Nations and CSOs. 

    Over the years, CSOs have provided key contributions to accountability efforts, including by collecting and preserving information on core international crimes and human rights violations. The IMPNA project will bolster their capacities, as well as those of national authorities, to work together and enhance cooperation between all efforts undertaken in both EU Member States and third countries. A principal aim is to avoid duplication of efforts through better coordination and cooperation, with a special focus on victims, especially female survivors. 

    The project is funded by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for International Partnerships (DG INTPA) for four years, from October 2024 until September 2028. With its official launch today at Eurojust, IMPNA has now formally started. It will be implemented and hosted by Eurojust and the Genocide Network Secretariat, based at the Agency.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Brazilian Man Indicted for Illegal Reentry

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    BOSTON – A Brazilian man has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Boston for illegally reentering the United States after deportation.    

    Rafael De Jesus-Ribeiro, 39, was indicted on one count of unlawful reentry of a deported alien. De Jesus-Ribeiro was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Jan. 13, 2025. He will appear in federal court in Boston at a later date.

    According to the indictment, De Jesus-Ribeiro was deported from the United States on July 17, 2019. It is alleged that sometime after his July 2019 removal, De Jesus-Ribeiro illegally reentered the United States without permission.

    The charge of unlawful reentry of a deported alien provides for a sentence of up to two years in prison, one year of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. The defendant will be subject to deportation proceedings upon completion of an imposed sentence. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.

    United States Attorney Leah Foley and Todd M. Lyons, Field Office Director, Boston, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric L. Hawkins of the Major Crimes Unit is prosecuting the case.

    The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
     

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Former Prison Guard Sentenced to Prison for Conspiring to Smuggle Drugs into Virginia Prison

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    BOSTON – A Virginia man was sentenced yesterday for conspiring to distribute controlled substances and launder drug proceeds with co-conspirators in Massachusetts and Virginia.

    Kenneth J. Owen, 24, of Charlotte Court House, Va., was sentenced by U.S. District Court Chief Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV to 21 months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release. In September 2024, Owen pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute MDMA and buprenorphine and two counts of money laundering conspiracy.

    In December 2019 and January 2020, Owen conspired with Sathtra Em, a Lowell resident, and Michael Mao, an inmate at the Buckingham Correctional Center in Dillwyn, Va., to smuggle MDMA and buprenorphine in the form of Suboxone and generic Suboxone sublingual films into the prison. At the time, Owen was working as a correctional officer at Buckingham.  

    As part of the conspiracy, Em mailed the drugs to Owen’s residence and paid him $1,600 in bribes to deliver the drugs and other contraband to Mao in the prison. Mao then sold the smuggled drugs to other inmates at Buckingham and Em collected the drug debts on behalf of Mao in the same Cash App accounts she used to pay the bribes to Owen. Owen used a Cash App account with the name “Carlos” to receive the bribes from Em, and he cashed out the funds to his bank account within minutes of receiving them.    

    Em and Mao previously pleaded guilty to their roles in the conspiracy. In August 2024, Em was sentenced to 21 months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release. Mao was sentenced to 121 months in prison to be followed by four years of supervised release, in November 2024.

    United States Attorney Leah B. Foley and Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division made the announcement. Special assistance was provided by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigations and the Virginia Department of Corrections. Assistant U.S. Attorney Fred M. Wyshak, III of the Organized Crime & Gang Unit and Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexandra Amrhein of the Asset Forfeiture Unit, prosecuted the case.

    This case is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.
     

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force Apprehends Mother’s Boyfriend for Injury to a Child

    Source: US Marshals Service

    Austin, TX – The U.S. Marshals Lone Star Fugitive Task Force arrested a man sought by Austin Police for injury to a child following an incident on February 7th that resulted in the hospitalization of a 2-year-old victim.  

    Marcos Amaya Maldonado, 25, of Del Valle, is alleged to have committed the injury while the child was in his custody during the day at the child’s mother’s residence in the 9900 block of Dessau Road. According to an affidavit by an investigator with the Austin Police Department (APD) Child Abuse Unit, Maldonado is the boyfriend of the victim’s mother. 

    When the mother arrived at the residence from work, she observed bruising to the side of the child’s face, according to the affidavit. After noticing an increase in bruising and swelling to the child’s face, and a “rash” under the diaper area, the mother called 911.

    Medical personnel at a nearby hospital reported the victim had sustained a large contusion to her head and extensive bruising to her genitalia and vaginal lacerations. 

    Following an investigation on February 9th, the APD Child Abuse Unit obtained a warrant in the City of Austin Municipal Court and requested assistance from the Lone Star Fugitive Task Force-Austin Division to locate and apprehend Maldonado. 

    Members of the task force initiated a fugitive investigation and arrested Maldonado in the 100 block of Fortuna Drive in Del Valle.

    Maldonado was transported to the APD Child Abuse Unit and booked into the Travis County Jail where he will await judicial proceedings.  

    Members of the Lone Star Fugitive Task Force in Austin:

    Austin Police Department-Tactical Intelligence Unit
    Georgetown, Round Rock, and San Marcos Police Department
    Caldwell, Hays, Travis, and Williamson County Sheriff’s Office
    Texas Attorney General’s Office
    Texas Department of Criminal Justice OIG
    Texas Department of Public Safety
    U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement
    U.S. DHS/Homeland Security Investigations

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: New Orleans Man Sentenced for Methamphetamine Conspiracy

    Source: United States Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (ATF)

    NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – CORIS ADDISON (“ADDISON”), age 42, a resident of New Orleans, was sentenced on February 5, 2025, by United States District Judge Ivan L.R. Lemelle, after previously pleading guilty to violating the Federal Controlled Substances Act by participating, along with others, in a methamphetamine conspiracy, announced U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans.

    According to court records, one of ADDISON’s co-conspirators sold approximately seven grams of pure methamphetamine to an undercover Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) agent, and another individual, on August 29, 2023 at a Westbank, New Orleans apartment.

    Another drug deal was set for the following day at the same apartment, but before the deal took place, two of ADDISON’s co-defendants robbed the undercover ATF agent, and the other individual, at gun point.  To escape the danger, the undercover ATF agent, and the other individual, went onto the third-floor balcony of the apartment and began climbing down.  The agent fell during his escape and sustained severe injuries.  Although ADDISON did not participate in the robbery, he and others were later arrested  at the apartment.

    Judge Lemelle sentenced ADDISON to serve 80 months in prison, followed by a three-year term of supervised release, and payment of a $100 mandatory special assessment fee.

    This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone.  On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.

    The investigation was conducted primarily by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, with assistance from the Louisiana State Police, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the New Orleans Police Department and Crimestoppers GNO. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys David Haller, Senior Litigation Counsel and PSN Coordinator, and Nolan Paige, Chief of the Narcotics Unit.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Thirty-Eight Defendants Sentenced in Massive Prison-Based Drug Trafficking Ring

    Source: United States Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (ATF)

    ATLANTA, Ga. – Thirty-eight members of a drug trafficking organization, including several State of Georgia prison inmates, have been sentenced for their roles in coordinating and distributing deadly heroin, methamphetamine, and fentanyl throughout the metro-Atlanta area, as well as laundering drug proceeds to Mexico.

    “The successful dismantling of this large organization is a result of a tenacious multi-year effort from federal, state, and local authorities to root out narcotics trafficking originating from state prisons,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Richard S. Moultrie, Jr.  “Our office will continue to work closely with our law enforcement partners to leverage all resources to identify, apprehend, and prosecute entire networks of offenders responsible for distributing deadly drugs into our communities.” 

    “These sentences mirror the destructive impact on the community caused by this violent drug trafficking organization,” said Jae W. Chung, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the DEA Atlanta Division. “Wherever you operate, if you distribute dangerous drugs, DEA will find you and hold you accountable.”

    “Thanks to the hard work and collaboration of our local, state, and federal law enforcement partners, thirty-eight members of this extensive drug distribution network will spend significant time behind bars where they will no longer be able to plague our community with poison,” said Sean Burke, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta. 

    According to Acting U.S. Attorney Moultrie, the charges and other information presented in court: During the investigation, federal special agents learned that a network of prison inmates was using contraband cell phones to broker drug transactions throughout the metro-Atlanta area, including importing drug shipments from Mexico and other states. These prison brokers relied on conspirators on the outside to store, package and distribute multiple types of illegal drugs. Other members of the organization were responsible for laundering the proceeds from the drug sales to Mexico using local money remitters.  The organization also repeatedly threatened violence to uncooperative members.  In one case, agents learned of a plot to abduct and murder a narcotics dealer.  In response, law enforcement quickly mobilized to disrupt the plan.

    After the first phase of the investigation concluded, a Grand Jury sitting in the Northern District of Georgia returned an indictment against 19 of the conspirators for drug trafficking and money laundering offenses.  During the second phase of the investigation, agents identified additional conspirators including two of the high-level prison brokers, Jesus Sanchez-Morales and Juan Ramirez, who were later indicted by the Grand Jury for drug trafficking offenses.  After Ramirez was brought into federal custody, he used another contraband cell phone to broker drug deals, including the attempted distribution of fentanyl.  The Grand Jury later charged him with this new conduct.  

    Through this multi-year investigation, agents seized over 250 kilograms of methamphetamine, 25 gallons of liquid methamphetamine, more than 12,000 fentanyl pills, kilogram-quantities of fentanyl powder, heroin, and marijuana, and over $450,000 in drug proceeds. 

    The defendants were convicted and sentenced by U.S. District Judge Leigh Martin May:

    • Juan Ramirez was sentenced earlier today to 27 years in prison to be followed by five years of supervised release .  Ramirez was convicted of ten drug trafficking counts including Conspiracy and Possession with the Intent to Distribute  Methamphetamine, Heroin, and Fentanyl, after a jury found him guilty of these charges on July 25, 2024.
    • Jesus Sanchez-Morales was sentenced to 27 years in prison to be followed by five years of supervised release. Sanchez-Morales was convicted of Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine, Heroin, and Fentanyl on June 22, 2020, after he pleaded guilty.
    • Martin Maldonado was sentenced to 19 years, seven months in prison to be followed by five years of supervised release. Maldonado was convicted of Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine, Heroin, and Fentanyl on April 26, 2021, after he pleaded guilty.
    • Benjamin Villareal Perez was sentenced to 19 years, seven months in prison to be followed by five years of supervised release. Perez was convicted of Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine, Heroin, and Fentanyl on September 17, 2019, after he pleaded guilty.
    • Jaime Chavez was sentenced to 17 years in prison to be followed by five years of supervised release. Chavez was convicted of Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine, Heroin, and Fentanyl and Possession of a Firearm in Furtherance of a Drug Trafficking Crime on April 30, 2021, after he pleaded guilty.
    • Aszavious Anderson was sentenced to 15 years in prison to be followed by five years of supervised release. Anderson was convicted of Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine, Heroin, and Fentanyl and Possession of a Firearm in Furtherance of a Drug Trafficking Crime on May 28, 2020, after he pleaded guilty.
    • Kristofer Ty Armistead was sentenced to 15 years in prison to be followed by five years of supervised release. Armistead was convicted of Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine on June 7, 2021, after he pleaded guilty.
    • Mario Castillo was sentenced to 15 years in prison to be followed by five years of supervised release. Castillo was convicted of Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine and Possession of a Firearm in Furtherance of a Drug Trafficking Crime on September 25, 2019, after he pleaded guilty.
    • Aricus Cantrell Holloway was sentenced to 15 years in prison to be followed by five years of supervised release. Holloway was convicted of Conspiracy and Possession with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine on April 24, 2023, after he pleaded guilty.
    • Cristian Hernandez-Lovo was sentenced to 15 years in prison to be followed by five years of supervised release. Hernandez-Lovo was convicted of Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine, Heroin, and Fentanyl and Possession of a Firearm in Furtherance of a Drug Trafficking Crime on September 24, 2019, after he pleaded guilty.
    • Jesus Antonio Molina-Ortiz was sentenced to 15 years in prison to be followed by five years of supervised release. Molina-Ortiz was convicted of Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine, Heroin, and Fentanyl and Possession of a Firearm in Furtherance of a Drug Trafficking Crime on August 10, 2020, after he pleaded guilty.
    • Jamar Tyrone Zanders was sentenced to 15 years in prison to be followed by five years of supervised release. Zanders was convicted of Conspiracy and Possession with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine on September 24, 2020, after he pleaded guilty.
    • Brandon Richard Duncan was sentenced to 14 years in prison to be followed by five years of supervised release. Duncan was convicted of Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine on July 9, 2021, after he pleaded guilty.
    • Joseph Dominic Edwards was sentenced to 14 years in prison to be followed by five years of supervised release. Edwards was convicted of Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine, Heroin, and Fentanyl on August 4, 2023, after he pleaded guilty.
    • Rafael Alvarez was sentenced to 13 years in prison to be followed by five years of supervised release. Alvarez was convicted of Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine, Heroin, and Fentanyl on August 13, 2019, after he pleaded guilty.
    • Jason Garcia-Lara was sentenced to 13 years in prison to be followed by five years of supervised release. Garcia-Lara was convicted of Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine on June 23, 2020, after he pleaded guilty.
    • Jordan Duane Bowers was sentenced to 12 years, six months in prison to be followed by five years of supervised release. Bowers was convicted of Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine, Fentanyl, and Heroin on May 10, 2022, after he pleaded guilty.
    • Emmanuel De Santos Nieto was sentenced to 12 years in prison to be followed by five years of supervised release. De Santos Nieto was convicted of Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine, Heroin, and Fentanyl on September 9, 2019, after he pleaded guilty.
    • Salvador Valencia-Zavala was sentenced to 11 years, three months in prison to be followed by five years of supervised release. Valencia-Zavala was convicted of Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine, Heroin, and Fentanyl on January 27, 2020, after he pleaded guilty.
    • Marvin Gaye Banks was sentenced to 11 years in prison to be followed by five years of supervised release. Banks was convicted of Possession with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine on July 15, 2020, after he pleaded guilty.
    • Samantha Fagundes was sentenced to 11 years in prison to be followed by five years of supervised release. Fagundes was convicted of Conspiracy and Possession with the Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine, Heroin, and Fentanyl, on January 15, 2020, after she pleaded guilty.
    • Alejandro Vasquez-Lopez was sentenced to 10 years, nine months in prison to be followed by five years of supervised release. Vasquez-Lopez was convicted of Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine on May 24, 2021, after he pleaded guilty.
    • Shelly Denise Class was sentenced to 10 years in prison to be followed by five years of supervised release. Class was convicted of Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine, Heroin, and Fentanyl on October 10, 2019, after she pleaded guilty.
    • Edgar Ochoa Martinez was sentenced to 10 years in prison to be followed by five years of supervised release. Martinez was convicted of Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine, Heroin, and Fentanyl on July 22, 2019, after he pleaded guilty.
    • Allison Nichole Daniel was sentenced to 10 years in prison to be followed by five years of supervised release. Daniel was convicted of Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine on May 27, 2020, after she pleaded guilty.
    • Enrique Rodriguez-Govea was sentenced to 10 years in prison to be followed by five years of supervised release. Rodriguez-Govea was convicted of Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine, Heroin, and Fentanyl on May 30, 2019, after he pleaded guilty.
    • Taurus Basil Stephens was sentenced to 10 years in prison to be followed by five years of supervised release. Stephens was convicted of Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine on December 16, 2020, after he pleaded guilty.
    • Raheem Jamal Morris was sentenced to nine years in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release. Morris was convicted of Conspiracy and Possession with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine on June 26, 2023, after he pleaded guilty.
    • Lilia Martinez Rodriguez was sentenced to eight years in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release. Martinez Rodriguez was convicted of Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering on September 21, 2020, after she pleaded guilty.
    • Roberto Rojas was sentenced to eight years in prison to be followed by five years of supervised release. Rojas was convicted of Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine on January 13, 2023, after he pleaded guilty.
    • Nicholas Charles Johnson was sentenced to seven years, eight months in prison to be followed by five years of supervised release. Johnson was convicted of Conspiracy and Possession with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine on July 10, 2023, after he pleaded guilty.
    • Leonardo Rosas was sentenced to six years in prison to be followed by five years of supervised release. Rosas was convicted of Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine, Heroin, and Fentanyl on October 3, 2019, after he pleaded guilty.
    • Daniel Gonzalez was sentenced to five years, four months in prison to be followed by five years of supervised release. Gonzalez was convicted of Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine, Heroin, and Fentanyl on July 11, 2019, after he pleaded guilty.
    • Juan Torres Chavez was sentenced to a time-served sentence of approximately four years, nine months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release. Chavez was convicted of Possession with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine on December 14, 2023, after he pleaded guilty.
    • David Chavez-Ortiz was sentenced to four years in prison to be followed by five years of supervised release. Chavez-Ortiz was convicted of Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine, Heroin, and Fentanyl on October 21, 2019, after he pleaded guilty.
    • Antwonette Jarnez Thomas was sentenced to four years in prison to be followed by five years of supervised release. Thomas was convicted of Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine on January 7, 2021, after she pleaded guilty.
    • Erin Cortez was sentenced to three years in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release. Cortez was convicted of Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine on January 22, 2020, after she pleaded guilty.
    • Joaquin Flores, Jr. was sentenced to three years in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release. Flores was convicted of Conspiracy and Possession with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine on January 19, 2024, after he pleaded guilty. 

    Eusebio Paniagua-Paz remains a fugitive.  If you have any information about his whereabouts, please contact your local law enforcement agency. 

    This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with valuable assistance provided by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, Federal Bureau of Investigation, United States Marshals Service, Atlanta Police Department, Cobb County Sheriff’s Office, Coweta County Sheriff’s Office, DeKalb County Police Department, Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office, Georgia Department of Corrections, Georgia State Patrol, and the South Fulton Police Department.

    Assistant United States Attorneys Alison B. Prout, Amy M. Palumbo, Elizabeth M. Hathaway, Sarah Klapman, and Nicholas Evert, together with former Assistant United States Attorneys Tyler Mann, Scott McAfee, and Erin H. Harris, prosecuted the case.

    This effort is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.

    For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at USAGAN.PressEmails@usdoj.gov or (404) 581-6280.  The Internet address for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is http://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Orleans Parish Man Guilty of Carjacking and Weapons Violations

    Source: United States Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (ATF)

    NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans announced that on February 4, 2025, RICHARD CARR (“CARR”), age 29, a resident of Orleans Parish, pled guilty in connection with a carjacking and gun violations that occurred on January 12, 2023, in New Orleans.

    Specifically, CARR pled guilty to carjacking, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 2119(1); brandishing a firearm during the commission of a crime of violence, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 924(c)(1)(A)(ii); and being a felon in possession of a firearm.  Court documents revealed that on January 12, 2023, New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) officers were dispatched to Conti Street in response to an armed robbery/carjacking.  The victim said he met CARR that day and drove with him to various areas in the city after which,  CARR produced a firearm and demanded the victim’s cell phone and  car keys for his silver Toyota CHR.  On January 13, 2023, NOPD Officers observed the victim’s stolen silver Toyota CHR, minus the license plate , parked in front of a Franklin Ave gas station.  Police then saw a male sleeping in the front seat with a firearm in on his lap.   NOPD then secured the firearm, a Glock Model 43, nine-millimeter caliber pistol, and arrested CARR.  CARR was prohibited from possessing a firearm due to a previous felony conviction.

    As to the carjacking and felon in possession charges, CARR faces a maximum sentence of 15 years imprisonment, a fine of up to $250,000.00, and up to 3 years of supervised release. As to the charge for brandishing a firearm during the commission of a crime of violence, CARR faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 7 years, up to a maximum of life imprisonment, a fine of up to $250,000.00, up to 5 years of supervised release, and a $300 mandatory special assessment fee.  

    This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone.  On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.

    The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and the New Orleans Police Department.  It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Greg Kennedy of the Violent Crime Unit.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Eight Venezuelan Nationals Charged with Offenses Related to their Roles in a Transnational Commercial Sex Enterprise

    Source: US State of Vermont

    A four-count indictment was unsealed yesterday in the Middle District of Tennessee charging eight defendants with various offenses arising from their respective roles in a transnational commercial sex enterprise.

    According to court documents, the defendants, all of Venezuela, Yilibeth del Carmen Rivero-De Caldera, 51; Kleiver Daniel Mota-Rivero, 35; Yuribetzi Del Valle Gomez Machuca, 39; Wilmarys Del Valle Manzano Solorzano, 22; Frankyanna Del Valle Romero-Rivero, 30; Endrik Alexander Morales-Rivero, 25; Jesus Enrique Castillo Rodriguez, 24; and Ariannys Beatriz Gutierrez-Carrillo, 24, operated an illegal commercial sex and sex trafficking enterprise out of Nashville motels from July 2022 through March 2024.

    According to the indictment, once the defendants facilitated the victims’ arrival in the United States, the defendants utilized online commercial sex websites to post advertisements for the victims and then used the internet and their cellular phones to direct commercial sex buyers to engage in commercial sex with the victims at the motels before collecting the proceeds from that commercial sex for the defendants’ benefit.

    “This indictment demonstrates our commitment to stop human trafficking whenever and wherever we find it, and to hold those involved accountable” said Acting U.S. Attorney Robert E. McGuire for the Middle District of Tennessee. “We are coming after transnational criminal organizations like TdA, but this case shows that we will also do whatever it takes to stop those who would traffick women and girls no matter who is behind their suffering.”

    “The success of this operation to stop Tren da Aragua operating in our communities is a significant step forward in our ongoing battle against human trafficking and transnational organized crime,” said Special Agent in Charge Rana Saoud of the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Nashville. “This investigation exemplifies the importance of collaboration among local, state, and federal agencies in ending these crimes in our communities while leaving a trail of suffering in their wake.”

    “We will not allow TdA – or any criminal organization – to get a stronghold in Tennessee,” said Director David Rausch of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. “We are thankful for our local, state, and federal partners who joined us in investigating this case, and we stand prepared to continue aggressively investigating human trafficking in our state, holding traffickers and buyers accountable and helping victims take their first steps toward becoming survivors.”

    “Human trafficking is among the most heinous crimes the FBI encounters,” said Special Agent in Charge Joseph E. Carrico of the FBI Nashville Field Office. “This devastating crime exploits vulnerable members of communities nationwide, including those in Tennessee. The FBI and our partners are committed to rescuing victims, investigating and prosecuting traffickers, and supporting survivors.”

    “While the focus of this investigation centers around human trafficking, Tren de Aragua is involved in all manner of criminal activity, to include the sale of narcotics and dangerous drugs,” said Special Agent in Charge Jim Scott of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA)’s Louisville Division. “The dedicated men and women of DEA will continue to work side by side with our federal, state and local partners to rid our communities of the transnational criminal gangs, like TdA.”

    “The trafficking of human beings is abhorrent to all of us, it’s a modern-day form of slavery,” said Chief John Drake of the Metro Nashville Police. “I want to be very clear, our police department will always make human trafficking an investigative priority regardless of where the suspects are from and will work with our partners for an intentional and coordinated law enforcement response.”

    A grand jury in the Middle District of Tennessee previously returned the four-count indictment charging all eight defendants for their respective roles in facilitating the recruiting of young women from impoverished parts of Venezuela and other South and Central American countries, then facilitating their transportation across the U.S. southern border and across state lines to engage in commercial sex in the Nashville area.

    Three of the defendants — Yilibeth del Carmen Rivero-De Caldera, Kleiver Daniel Mota-Rivero, and Yuribetzi Del Valle Gomez Machuca — are additionally charged with a sex trafficking conspiracy for conspiring to use force, fraud, and coercion to compel the women into engaging in commercial sex acts for the defendants’ profit that include invoking alleged ties to the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua (TdA) and its reputation for violence.

    The indictment further charges defendant Kleiver Daniel Mota-Rivero with one count of possession of a firearm by an illegal alien.

    Mother and son defendants Rivero-De Caldera and Mota-Rivero are charged with conspiring to impose a coercive debt scheme upon the victims to compel them to continue engaging in commercial sex acts until the defendants deemed their debts repaid. Defendants Rivero-De Caldera and Mota-Rivero previously were arrested and detained on state charges relating to their conduct.

    If convicted of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking, the defendants face a maximum penalty of life in prison. A conspiracy to commit interstate transportation for purposes of prostitution carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison, and a conspiracy to commit interstate and foreign travel or transportation in aid of racketeering enterprises carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison.

    If convicted of possession of a firearm by an illegal alien, Mota-Rivero also faces a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison.

    The case was investigated by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the FBI, and additional federal, state, and local Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) partners who coordinated related law enforcement operations across multiple jurisdictions. OCDEFT identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach.

    Assistant U.S. Attorney Brooke K. Schiferle for the Middle District of Tennessee and Trial Attorneys Lindsey Roberson and Jessica Arco of the Civil Rights Division’s Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit are prosecuting the case.

    If you or someone you know is a victim of human trafficking, please call the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1 (888) 373-7888 which is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. For more information about human trafficking, please visit www.humantraffickinghotline.org. Information on the Justice Department’s efforts to combat human trafficking can be found at www.justice.gov/humantrafficking.

    An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Eight Venezuelan Nationals Charged with Offenses Related to their Roles in a Transnational Commercial Sex Enterprise

    Source: United States Attorneys General

    A four-count indictment was unsealed yesterday in the Middle District of Tennessee charging eight defendants with various offenses arising from their respective roles in a transnational commercial sex enterprise.

    According to court documents, the defendants, all of Venezuela, Yilibeth del Carmen Rivero-De Caldera, 51; Kleiver Daniel Mota-Rivero, 35; Yuribetzi Del Valle Gomez Machuca, 39; Wilmarys Del Valle Manzano Solorzano, 22; Frankyanna Del Valle Romero-Rivero, 30; Endrik Alexander Morales-Rivero, 25; Jesus Enrique Castillo Rodriguez, 24; and Ariannys Beatriz Gutierrez-Carrillo, 24, operated an illegal commercial sex and sex trafficking enterprise out of Nashville motels from July 2022 through March 2024.

    According to the indictment, once the defendants facilitated the victims’ arrival in the United States, the defendants utilized online commercial sex websites to post advertisements for the victims and then used the internet and their cellular phones to direct commercial sex buyers to engage in commercial sex with the victims at the motels before collecting the proceeds from that commercial sex for the defendants’ benefit.

    “This indictment demonstrates our commitment to stop human trafficking whenever and wherever we find it, and to hold those involved accountable” said Acting U.S. Attorney Robert E. McGuire for the Middle District of Tennessee. “We are coming after transnational criminal organizations like TdA, but this case shows that we will also do whatever it takes to stop those who would traffick women and girls no matter who is behind their suffering.”

    “The success of this operation to stop Tren da Aragua operating in our communities is a significant step forward in our ongoing battle against human trafficking and transnational organized crime,” said Special Agent in Charge Rana Saoud of the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Nashville. “This investigation exemplifies the importance of collaboration among local, state, and federal agencies in ending these crimes in our communities while leaving a trail of suffering in their wake.”

    “We will not allow TdA – or any criminal organization – to get a stronghold in Tennessee,” said Director David Rausch of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. “We are thankful for our local, state, and federal partners who joined us in investigating this case, and we stand prepared to continue aggressively investigating human trafficking in our state, holding traffickers and buyers accountable and helping victims take their first steps toward becoming survivors.”

    “Human trafficking is among the most heinous crimes the FBI encounters,” said Special Agent in Charge Joseph E. Carrico of the FBI Nashville Field Office. “This devastating crime exploits vulnerable members of communities nationwide, including those in Tennessee. The FBI and our partners are committed to rescuing victims, investigating and prosecuting traffickers, and supporting survivors.”

    “While the focus of this investigation centers around human trafficking, Tren de Aragua is involved in all manner of criminal activity, to include the sale of narcotics and dangerous drugs,” said Special Agent in Charge Jim Scott of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA)’s Louisville Division. “The dedicated men and women of DEA will continue to work side by side with our federal, state and local partners to rid our communities of the transnational criminal gangs, like TdA.”

    “The trafficking of human beings is abhorrent to all of us, it’s a modern-day form of slavery,” said Chief John Drake of the Metro Nashville Police. “I want to be very clear, our police department will always make human trafficking an investigative priority regardless of where the suspects are from and will work with our partners for an intentional and coordinated law enforcement response.”

    A grand jury in the Middle District of Tennessee previously returned the four-count indictment charging all eight defendants for their respective roles in facilitating the recruiting of young women from impoverished parts of Venezuela and other South and Central American countries, then facilitating their transportation across the U.S. southern border and across state lines to engage in commercial sex in the Nashville area.

    Three of the defendants — Yilibeth del Carmen Rivero-De Caldera, Kleiver Daniel Mota-Rivero, and Yuribetzi Del Valle Gomez Machuca — are additionally charged with a sex trafficking conspiracy for conspiring to use force, fraud, and coercion to compel the women into engaging in commercial sex acts for the defendants’ profit that include invoking alleged ties to the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua (TdA) and its reputation for violence.

    The indictment further charges defendant Kleiver Daniel Mota-Rivero with one count of possession of a firearm by an illegal alien.

    Mother and son defendants Rivero-De Caldera and Mota-Rivero are charged with conspiring to impose a coercive debt scheme upon the victims to compel them to continue engaging in commercial sex acts until the defendants deemed their debts repaid. Defendants Rivero-De Caldera and Mota-Rivero previously were arrested and detained on state charges relating to their conduct.

    If convicted of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking, the defendants face a maximum penalty of life in prison. A conspiracy to commit interstate transportation for purposes of prostitution carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison, and a conspiracy to commit interstate and foreign travel or transportation in aid of racketeering enterprises carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison.

    If convicted of possession of a firearm by an illegal alien, Mota-Rivero also faces a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison.

    The case was investigated by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the FBI, and additional federal, state, and local Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) partners who coordinated related law enforcement operations across multiple jurisdictions. OCDEFT identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach.

    Assistant U.S. Attorney Brooke K. Schiferle for the Middle District of Tennessee and Trial Attorneys Lindsey Roberson and Jessica Arco of the Civil Rights Division’s Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit are prosecuting the case.

    If you or someone you know is a victim of human trafficking, please call the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1 (888) 373-7888 which is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. For more information about human trafficking, please visit www.humantraffickinghotline.org. Information on the Justice Department’s efforts to combat human trafficking can be found at www.justice.gov/humantrafficking.

    An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Europe: r* in the monetary policy universe: navigational star or dark matter? | Lecture at the London School of Economics and Political Science

    Source: Deutsche Bundesbank in English

    Check against delivery.
    1 Introduction
    Ladies and gentlemen, It’s a pleasure and an honour for me to speak here before such a distinguished audience.
    Remember to look up at the stars and not down at your feet. This was advice from Stephen Hawking, the famous English physicist and author of numerous books on the cosmos. And who would want to contradict the genius?
    So today I invite you to join me on a stargazing tour. If you don’t have a telescope with you, no worries. However, I should add a disclaimer here: When a couple look up at the stars, things could get romantic. When astronomers observe the stars, impressive images can come into view. When economists talk about stars, it usually gets complicated. Now you know what you’re getting into! 
    I’m sure you’ve already guessed what topic I have in mind: the natural rate of interest – also known as r-star. It is a concept that economists have been grappling with for more than 125 years.[1] And it has perhaps never received more attention than in the current era of monetary policy.
    From a central banker’s perspective, I would like to discuss what role r-star can and should play in the monetary policy universe. I will structure my lecture around four key questions: What is r-star and why is it of interest for monetary policy? How have estimates for r-star evolved over the past decades? What drives uncertainty about current estimates and the future evolution of r-star? What conclusions should monetary policy draw from this?
    2 Definition of r-star and use for monetary policy
    Let’s start with the definition. The natural rate is the real interest rate that would prevail if the economy were operating at its potential and prices were stable. R-star is commonly thought to be driven by real forces that structurally affect the balance between saving and investment. Think of technological progress and demographics, for example. This also means that r-star should, by definition, be independent of monetary policy. The latter follows from the widely held belief that monetary policy can affect real variables only temporarily, but is neutral in the long term.
    At first glance, the natural rate could be a guiding star for the conduct of monetary policy. If a central bank sets its policy rates so that the real interest rate is above r-star, monetary policy is restrictive or “tight”. Consequently, economic activity slows and the inflation rate should decrease. If the real rate is below r-star, monetary policy is expansionary or “loose”. It provides incentives for consumers to purchase more and for enterprises to step up investment and output. Hence, this should result in more economic activity and a higher inflation rate.
    However, the idea of the natural rate serving as a guiding star for monetary policy comes with profound challenges. Perhaps the name r-star evokes associations with astronomy and navigation. But these would be misleading. If r-star were like a star in the sky, it would be relatively easy to locate. Stars emit light and are therefore observable.
    The natural rate is a theoretical concept. It is based on a hypothetical state of the world. That means the natural rate is, by nature, unobservable. It can only be estimated. For example, models use assumptions about the relationship between measurable variables and r-star. In this respect, the natural rate is not so much like a star shining brightly in the sky. It is more a case of dark matter. As it is invisible, astronomers infer dark matter indirectly by observing its gravitational effects.
    If something is hard to find, it only spurs researchers to look even harder – whether they are astronomers or economists. Therefore, we can draw on a variety of estimation methods for the evolution of the natural rate.
    3 Estimates for r-star over time
    Since around the 1980s various estimates of different types have been pointing to a downward trend for r-star over several decades and across many advanced economies.[2] In the wake of the global financial crisis, the estimates slumped to exceptionally low levels.[3] This development was roughly in line with the observed trajectory of actual real interest rates of short- and long-term government bonds during this period. And no wonder: In the long run, both should be driven by the same fundamental forces affecting the balance between saving and investment.
    So the question is this: what has lifted saving and depressed investment? A simple answer would be: in the long term, the most important driver is potential growth. But this finding is not very enlightening. Potential growth is also not observable. It is determined by underlying forces such as demographics and technological progress. This is where we need to look for the causes.
    Indeed, according to a number of recent studies, waning productivity growth and population ageing were the key factors in pushing saving up and investment down.[4] Lower productivity reduces the return on investment, so people are less willing to invest. As they expect to live longer, they are more willing to save.
    In addition, inequality, risk aversion and fiscal policy could be other factors. For example, growing inequality raises saving, as richer households save a larger share of their income. Similarly, higher risk aversion leads to higher saving, especially in safe assets, while lowering investment.[5] 
    Many of the estimates for r-star reached their lowest point in the pandemic years 2020 and 2021. After that, there were signs of a partial reversal. A recent analysis by Eurosystem economists across a suite of models and data up to the end of 2024 suggests that estimates of r-star range from − ½ % to ½ % in real terms. In nominal terms, they find that it ranges between 1¾ % and 2¼ %.[6]
    It is clear that these ranges depend on the estimating approaches considered. Taking into account an even wider array of measures, Bundesbank staff calculations using data up to the end of 2024 reveal a range of 1.8 % to 2.5 %.[7] And the ECB found for the third quarter of 2024: When three estimates derived from versions of the Holston-Laubach-Williams model are factored in, the range of real r-star is − ½ % to 1 % and the nominal range is 1¾ % to 3 %.
    All in all, the results suggest that the range of r-star estimates most likely increased by about one percentage point from their lows. The latest estimates by economists from the Bank for International Settlements come to similar findings.[8]
    The reasons for the increase after the pandemic are not yet fully clear. For example, high fiscal spending with rising public debt levels could play a role. Or higher needs for capital, as companies make their value chains more resilient by duplicating structures and increasing stock levels.
    4 Uncertainties around r-star estimates
    Stargazing tours in economics are a journey into the uncertain. This is also and especially true for r-star. Estimates of the natural rate of interest are subject to major uncertainties, shaped by three M’s: megatrends, methodology and monetary policy.
    First, we are facing a number of megatrends. Think of climate change, ageing societies, digitalisation, and the risks of de-globalisation and increasing geopolitical divisions. The effects of these megatrends on natural rates are difficult to gauge and may change over time.
    On the one hand, they could contribute to a higher natural rate. Here are some examples: The widespread uptake of artificial intelligence could boost productivity growth. The green transition could lead to higher investment. Fiscal deficits could persist at an elevated level due to higher defence spending given geopolitical tensions. The entry of the baby boomer generation into retirement could reduce savings.
    On the other hand, life expectancy is predicted to keep rising; the high hopes for the productivity-enhancing effect of AI could turn out to be too optimistic; and given high public debt levels, fiscal space for additional spending is limited in many countries. Overall, it is virtually impossible to predict which developments will prevail in affecting r-star.
    The second factor of uncertainty is methodology. The methods used to define and estimate r-star differ in important ways, especially in terms of time and risk. 
    Ricardo Reis demonstrates this impressively in a recent paper.[9] He presents four different “r-stars”. They are based on four different conceptual approaches. And they developed quite differently between 1995 and 2019. 
    One major difference is the risk dimension. Knut Wicksell’s original definition of the natural rate was the rate of return on physical capital in equilibrium.[10] The rate of return on physical capital is the return on investment in the real economy. And this rate is very much associated with risks. 
    However, this perspective has been lost in virtually all of the model approaches. Generally, they use rather secure government bond yields as a starting point. Again, with regard to the real economy, a risky return on capital would be a more appropriate yardstick. When we look at measures for the return on private capital, we see a strong contrast with risk-free rates. Returns on private capital have remained broadly stable over the last decades in the US,[11] Germany[12] and the euro area as a whole.[13] 
    From these observations, Ricardo Reis draws the following conclusion: focusing exclusively on the return on government bonds as the measure of r-star, while neglecting the return on private capital, leads to the wrong policy advice.[14]
    Another case in point is the time horizon that is considered. Commonly cited estimates seek to assess the real rate that prevails in the longer run, when all shocks have dissipated. Most of these estimates are highly imprecise. Many methods simply project the current or the historical level of real rates into the future. This may confound permanent trends with cyclical factors, which may not be representative for the future. As a result, such methods could miss important turning points in real rate trends. 
    Other approaches characterise a short-run real rate in a hypothetical world without frictions. While interesting, this concept is of limited value for actual policymaking in the real world. Methods based on a short-term equilibrium tend to produce more volatile estimates of r-star.
    There is a third reason for caution: monetary policy itself may play a role in shaping the natural rate or its estimates. A number of studies challenge the view that money is neutral in the long run.[15] 
    There are different channels through which monetary policy could have lasting effects on real interest rates. Prolonged tight monetary policy, for example, may lower investment, innovation and productivity growth.[16] By contrast, persistent monetary easing could fuel financial imbalances and contribute to zombification.[17] 
    Moreover, recent research suggests that central bank announcements provide guidance about the trend in real rates. For instance, a narrow window around Fed meetings captures most of the trend decline in US real long-term yields since 1980.[18] This could mean: when central banks look for r-star in financial market prices, they might actually be looking in a mirror.[19] Feedback loops between monetary policy and markets could unduly reinforce their perceptions about r-star. And shifts in perceived r-star could affect actual r-star as it influences saving and investment decisions.
    5 Conclusions for monetary policy
    Against the backdrop of these major uncertainties, the final key question of my speech is this: what role can and should r-star play for monetary policy in practice?
    Let’s approach the answer with a thought experiment: Put yourself in the shoes of a monetary policymaker who only looks at r-star. The relevant interest rate with which you steer the monetary policy stance is currently 2.75 %. After a previous series of interest rate cuts, you consider whether a further cut would be appropriate.
    Your staff inform you that various point estimates of r-star range from around 1.8 % to 2.5 % in nominal terms. If r-star were at the upper end of the estimates, the policy rate would become neutral with the next rate cut. Things would be different if r-star were at the lower end of the estimates: Monetary policy would continue to be restrictive, even after several further rate cuts.
    So how would you proceed, given a certain stance you want to achieve? Beware: If you rely on a wrong estimate, your decision may have a different effect on inflation than you intended. Simply choosing the middle of the range might not be a happy medium. Around the point estimates, there are often uncertainty bands of different sizes and with asymmetries.
    As you have probably guessed: It is no coincidence that I have described this particular decision-making situation. It looks similar in the euro area ahead of the next monetary policy meeting of the ECB Governing Council at the beginning of March. After several rate cuts, the neutral rate could already be near – or there may still be some way to go.
    The President of the New York Fed, John Williams, put the problem in a nutshell when he said: as we have gotten closer to the range of estimates of neutral, what appeared to be a bright point of light is really a fuzzy blur.[20]
    The bottom line here is this: The closer we get to the neutral rate, the more appropriate it becomes to take a gradual approach. For this purpose, r-star is a helpful concept: it indicates when we need to be more cautious with policy rate moves so that we don’t take a wrong step. 
    At the same time, the limits of the concept are also clear: it would be risky to base decisions mainly on r-star estimates. Much more is needed to assess the current monetary policy stance and the optimal policy path for the near future.
    That is why the Eurosystem uses a variety of financial, real economic and other indicators along the monetary policy transmission mechanism. We want the fullest picture possible. And, of course, r-star also has a place in this picture. For instance, r-star is included in model-based optimal policy projections that we use in the decision-making process.
    In my opinion, proceeding in a data-driven and gradual manner has served the ECB Governing Council well. There is no reason to act hastily in the present uncertain environment. The data will tell us where we need to go.
    Away from day-to-day monetary policymaking, the concept of the natural rate of interest provides a useful framework. This is also exemplified in the policy scenarios that Ricardo Reis presented last week in Brussels.[21]
    He works with the assumption that government bond rates remain around current levels. I would add the assumption that inflation stays on target – actually, that is what I am in office for and committed to. Assuming output is at capacity, policy rates would be persistently higher than in the past. But the recommendations on actual monetary policy depend on the driving forces: is the new setting caused by less demand for safe and liquid assets or by an increase in productivity? And he has two more scenarios in his paper!
    That provides a good example of why we should take a close look at the factors behind r-star estimates. Here it is important to even better understand the forces that are shifting real interest rate trends. We need to find out how these forces and trends affect our work to ensure price stability.
    Reviewing our monetary policy strategy from time to time is therefore vital. That is precisely what we are doing right now in the Eurosystem. And, of course, in this process, we look at all the questions I mentioned about r-star.
    Our stargazing tour is drawing to a close. It turns out we were dealing more with dark matter than with a shining star. Just as dark matter is an exciting field for astronomers, r-star is a rewarding topic for economists.
    Using r-star alone to navigate the monetary policy universe could be like flying almost blind. But having it as one of many instruments in your cockpit is highly useful.
    I would like to end by quoting Stephen Hawking again: Mankind’s greatest achievements have come about by talking, and its greatest failures by not talking.
    Footnotes: 
    Wicksell, K. (1898), Geldzins und Güterpreise: eine Studie über die den Tauschwert des Geldes bestimmenden Ursachen, Jena, G. Fischer (English version as ibid. (1936), Interest and prices: a study of the causes regulating the value of money, London, Macmillan).
    Obstfeld, M., Natural and Neutral Real Interest Rates: Past and Future, NBER Working Paper, No 31949, December 2023.
    Brand, C., M. Bielecki and A. Penalver (2018), The natural rate of interest: estimates, drivers, and challenges to monetary policy, ECB Occasional Paper, No 217.
    Cesa-Bianchi, A., R. Harrison and R. Sajedi (2023), Global R*, CEPR Discussion Paper No 18518; Davis, J., C. Fuenzalida, L. Huetsch, B. Mills and A. M. Taylor (2024), Global natural rates in the long run: Postwar macro trends and the market-implied r* in 10 advanced economies, Journal of International Economics, Vol. 149; International Monetary Fund (2023), The natural rate of interest: drivers and implications for policy, World Economic Outlook, April, Chapter 2.
    On the development of risk appetite in financial markets, see Deutsche Bundesbank, Risk appetite in financial markets and monetary policy, Monthly Report, January 2025.
    Brand, C., N. Lisack and F. Mazelis (2025), Natural rate estimates for the euro area: insights, uncertainties and shortcomings, ECB Economic Bulletin, 1/2025.
    Additional models would also provide values outside this range, but are currently not deemed sufficiently robust.
    Benigno, G., B. Hofmann, G. Nuño and D. Sandri (2024), Quo vadis, r*? The natural rate of interest after the pandemic, BIS Quarterly Review, March.
    Reis, R. (2025), The Four R-stars: From Interest Rates to Inflation and Back, draft working paper. 
    Wicksell, K. (1898), op. cit.
    Caballero, R., E. Farhi and P.-O. Gourinchas (2017), Rents, Technical Change, and Risk Premia Accounting for Secular Trends in Interest Rates, Returns on Capital, Earning Yields, and Factor Shares, American Economic Review: Papers & Proceedings 107(5), pp. 614‑620.
    Deutsche Bundesbank, The natural rate of interest, Monthly Report, October 2017.
    Brand, C., M. Bielecki and A. Penalver (2018), The natural rate of interest: estimates, drivers, and challenges to monetary policy, ECB Occasional Paper, No 217.
    Reis, R., Which r-star, public bonds or private investment? Measurement and policy implications, Unpublished manuscript, September 2022.
    Jordà, Ò., S. Singh and A. Taylor, The long-run effects of monetary policy, NBER Working Papers, No 26666, January 2020, revised September 2024; Benigno, G., B. Hofmann, G. Nuño and D. Sandri (2024), Quo vadis, r*? The natural rate of interest after the pandemic, BIS Quarterly Review, March.
    Baqaee, D., E. Farhi and K. Sangani, The supply-side effects of monetary policy, NBER Working Paper, No 28345, January 2021, revised March 2023; Ma, Y. and K. Zimmermann, Monetary Policy and Innovation, NBER Working Paper, No 31698, September 2023.
    Borio, C., P. Disyatat, M. Juselius and P. Rungcharoenkitkul (2022), Why so low for so long? A long-term view of real interest rates, International Journal of Central Banking, Vol. 18, No 3.
    Hillenbrand, S. (2025), The Fed and the Secular Decline in Interest Rates, The Review of Financial Studies, forthcoming. 
    Williams, J. C. (2017), Comment on “Safety, Liquidity, and the Natural Rate of Interest”, by M. Del Negro, M. P. Giannoni, D. Giannone, and A. Tambalotti, Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Vol. 1, pp. 235‑316; Rungcharoenkitkul, P. and F. Winkler, The natural rate of interest through a hall of mirrors, BIS Working Paper No 974, November 2021.
    Williams, J. C., Remarks at the 42nd Annual Central Banking Seminar, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, New York City, 1 October 2018.
    Reis, R. (2025), op. cit.

    MIL OSI

    MIL OSI Europe News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Ahead of Gabbard confirmation vote, Senator Coons tells colleagues ‘we cannot’ trust her to be Director of National Intelligence in speech on Senate floor

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Delaware Christopher Coons
    WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.), the ranking member on the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, delivered remarks on the Senate floor yesterday opposing President Donald Trump’s nominee Tulsi Gabbard to be the Director of National Intelligence. Gabbard was confirmed with solely Republican votes this morning.
    In his speech, Senator Coons highlighted how Gabbard’s confirmation poses a significant threat to the trust that is the foundation of our national security. He also raised significant concerns about Gabbard’s troubling past statements and actions undermining U.S. foreign policy. From defending whistleblower Edward Snowden, to blaming the U.S. and NATO for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, to defending recently deposed Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad—Senator Coons pointed out these actions make America less safe and are directly opposed to the efforts of our intelligence services. Gabbard has also become a favorite with Russian state media for her habit of spewing pro-Kremlin talking points.
    “Our nation faces massive threats that are growing day by day,” Senator Coons said on the floor. “Our nation is facing threats around the world from North Korea and Iran, from China and from Russia, and we need an intelligence service equipped to respond to these challenges. Can we trust Tulsi Gabbard to lead our intelligence services and to respond to these threats? I cannot, we cannot, and we should not.”
    At a time when the United States faces an increasingly hostile world and threats from Russia, China, Iran, and other adversaries, Senator Coons believes our nation needs intelligence leadership that protects and strengthens American interests. Gabbard has shown she is not up to this role, and the Senate should have rejected her nomination.
    A video and transcript of Senator Coons’ comments are available below.
    WATCH HERE.
    SENATOR COONS: Mr. President, trust––trust is at the very center of our national security. The trust that we share with allies and partners around the world, the trust that the American people have in us and in our armed services and in our intelligence services, the trust that vital allies have that causes them to share with us information about threats, challenges, opportunities—that’s the very foundation of our national security, and today I rise to warn my colleagues about the risks to our national security posed by the nomination of Tulsi Gabbard to be the Director of National Intelligence.
    As the Ranking Member of the Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, I have a significant involvement in our nation’s intelligence apparatus, and over the course of the confirmation hearings and the debate here on the floor about former Congresswoman Gabbard, I’ve concluded that she has an alarming record, revealed more fully in her confirmation hearings, but also in a review of her speeches, her travels, her positions as a Democrat, as a Congresswoman, as a candidate for president, as a supporter for President Trump. 
    She has gone quite a distance. She has defended Edward Snowden. Snowden is widely viewed by folks in our intelligence community, our national security apparatus, our armed forces, and many here as a traitor who betrayed some of the most important secrets that are critical to keeping the United States secure. She would not in her confirmation hearings answer the question: is Edward Snowden a traitor?
    Ms. Gabbard bemoaned the rise of [Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham] in Syria, which recently overthrew the brutal dictator Bashar al-Assad, without mentioning the fall of Assad. She mentioned how tragic it was that HTS overran Damascus, without mentioning the side benefit of the fall of a brutal dictator, and in her confirmation hearings repeatedly dodged questions about FISA and section 702, key tools for our intelligence community. All of this is in keeping with a long-standing record as an apologist for authoritarians and even enemies of the United States. She has repeatedly blamed the United States and NATO for Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
    I will tell you as someone who is about to go to the Munich Security Conference this weekend with a broad and bipartisan delegation from this body and from the House, I will never forget being at the Munich Security Conference just before Russia invaded Ukraine, broad spectrum.
    They had been in Eastern Ukraine for years. They had occupied Crimea and then launched a war into the eastern part of Ukraine. It was days after the Munich Security Conference in February of 2022, that tens of thousands of Russian troops, whole divisions, poured over the line in a broad-spectrum invasion that included brutality against civilians, bombardment of the entire nation, ultimately—cruel acts of violence against women and children, fully documented in the press and courts around the world. And yet, Ms. Gabbard blamed the United States and NATO for provoking this invasion by Russia of a sovereign nation––a nation where the United States, in writing, guaranteed its sovereignty in the 1994 agreement that led to them giving up their nuclear weapons. 
    Ms. Gabbard visited Syria and met with Bashar al-Assad for several days in 2017 and relied on pro-Assad sources to cast doubt on the use of chemical weapons against his own people. She has a history of repeating pro-Kremlin talking points and is a favorite on Russian state media. She appears frequently because she frequently is attacking the United States in Russian state media.
    Mr. President, this body will all too soon take up the confirmation of Tulsi Gabbard. We should not proceed. We should not vote for her. Our nation—our nation faces massive threats that are growing day by day. Our nation is facing threats around the world from North Korea and Iran, from China and from Russia, and we need an intelligence service equipped to respond to these challenges. Can we trust Tulsi Gabbard to lead our intelligence services and to respond to these threats? I cannot, we cannot, and we should not. This body should not vote to confirm Tulsi Gabbard as the next Director of National Intelligence. Thank you.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Bienville Parish Woman Sentenced to Federal Prison for Committing Wire Fraud Involving the Cares Act and Paycheck Protection Program

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    SHREVEPORT, La. – Acting United States Attorney Alexander C. Van Hook announced that Shaquaila Lewis a/k/a Shaquaila Lewis-Chatman, 36, of Gibsland, Louisiana, has been sentenced on one count of wire fraud. United States District Judge S. Maurice Hicks, Jr. sentenced Lewis to 27 months in prison, followed by 3 years of supervised release. Restitution will be determined at a later date. 

    In March 2020 Congress enacted the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act which was designed to provide emergency financial assistance to the millions of Americans who were suffering the economic effects caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. As part of the CARES Act, the Small Business Administration (SBA) provided Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL), which were low-interest financing to small businesses, renters and homeowners in regions affected by declared disasters. The CARES Act also provided authorization of up to $349 billion in forgivable loans to small businesses for job retention and certain other expenses, through a program referred to as the Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”).

    Lewis devised a scheme to defraud the SBA and various financial institutions by falsifying PPP and EIDL Program loan applications, forms, and other documents, and submitting fraudulent loan applications. At the sentencing hearing, the court found that Lewis was responsible for over $1.1 million in loss as a result of multiple fraudulent loans involving herself and others.

    As an example, in February 2021, Lewis electronically submitted a false and fraudulent PPP application to Square Capital in the name of Perfect Memories Travel seeking approximately $20,833 in PPP funds. Lewis signed the application and falsely certified that the application and all information provided was true and accurate. Lewis falsely certified that the funds would be used “to retain workers and maintain payroll.” She also falsely certified that she had used the full loan amount from a prior PPP application submitted on behalf of Perfect Memories Travel only for eligible expenses. A few days later, Square Capital disbursed approximately $20,583 in loan benefits to a bank account held by Lewis, and she used those funds for personal expenses.

    The case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Seth D. Reeg and Assistant Chief Justin M. Woodard of the Department of Justice Criminal Division – Fraud Section.

    # # #

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Member of the 764 Criminal Enterprise Pleads Guilty to Racketeering Conspiracy and Other Charges

    Source: US State of California

    Jairo Jaime Tinajero, 25, pleaded guilty yesterday in the Western District of Kentucky to the following charges contained in the superseding information: racketeering conspiracy, online enticement, three counts of production of child sexual abuse material, three counts of distribution of child sexual abuse material (CSAM), five counts of interstate communications of threats, cyberstalking, and conspiracy to murder Jane Doe 1 in aid of racketeering. The terms of the plea agreement specify that both parties agree to the applicability of the terrorism sentencing enhancement (U.S.S.G. § 3A1.4 n. 4).

    On Oct. 11, 2023, a grand jury in the Western District of Kentucky returned an indictment charging Tinajero with online enticement and production of child sexual abuse material. On Oct. 4, 2023, in the Eastern District of Arkansas, Tinajero was arrested on a criminal complaint that was filed in the Western District of Kentucky.

    According to the court documents, Tinajero is a self-identified member of the 764 network. The 764 network’s accelerationist goals include social unrest and the downfall of the current world order, including the U.S. Government. Beginning in 2020, Tinajero started communicating with, and grooming, several minor victims to obtain sexually explicit content from them, including Jane Doe 1. In 2023, Tinajero began to threaten the safety of Jane Doe 1 and her family. Tinajero posted online in encrypted platforms associated with 764 and related groups a “Lorebook” – commonly used in 764 blackmail schemes — containing Jane Doe 1’s identifying information along with nude pictures of the minor.

    Between July 2023 and September 2023, during multiple discussions over social media, Tinajero and a co-conspirator agreed that Tinajero should kill Jane Doe 1. Tinajero and the co-conspirator specifically discussed that Tinajero should murder Jane Doe 1 and dispose of Jane Doe 1’s body in a barrel of acid after the murder. Tinajero posted multiple messages on various social media websites stating that he planned to kill Jane Doe 1 with a firearm because Jane Doe 1 refused to provide additional child sexual abuse material.

    On Aug. 26, 2023, Tinajero posted on Telegram, “Im determined to die” and “If I gotta kill her I can’t let her live and f**k with dudes and girls while I’m sick and miserable” and “Im gonna live stream it.” Tinajero also posted a picture of Jane Doe 1. On Sept. 2, 2023, Tinajero posted on Telegram, “I wanna kill them so bad just show up at their cribs and shoot 100 rounds in 5 seconds” and, on Sept. 3, 2023, posted “I didn’t wanna do anything bc I was scared of dying or prison but now I’m determined to die if I have to after getting rid of [Jane Doe 1] . . . .” Tinajero also began soliciting others to assist with attempting to kill Jane Doe 1.

    The FBI is investigating the case.

    Assistant U.S. Attorney Erwin Roberts for the Western District of Kentucky and Trial Attorneys Justin Sher and James Donnelly of the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section are prosecuting the case. The Violent Crime and Racketeering Section for the Criminal Division and the Eastern District of Arkansas provided assistance.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Pictou — Search Warrant leads to seizure of drugs, weapon

    Source: Royal Canadian Mounted Police

    The Pictou County Integrated Street Crime Enforcement Unit (PCISCEU) seized drugs and a weapon from a Pictou residence during a search warrant execution.

    In December 2024, PICSCEU began investigating potential drug trafficking from a residence on Poplar St., Pictou.

    On February 6, members of the PCISCEU, assisted by the Pictou County District RCMP, RCMP Police Dog Services, Pictou County District GIS, and Stellarton Police Service, executed a search warrant at the residence and seized cocaine, methamphetamine, and a bladed weapon.

    Five people were arrested at the home, including:

    • Emily Jessica Barker, 31, of Masstown
    • Amanda Michelle Binder, 23, of Stellarton
    • Amanda Leeanne Deyoung, 45, of New Glasgow
    • Colin Martin Graham, 34, of Stellarton
    • Jarom Elliott Merriam, 40, of Truro

    All five have been charged with two counts each of Possession of a Controlled Substance for the Purpose of Trafficking and Possession of a Weapon for a Dangerous Purpose. They were released from custody pending a court appearance on April 14i n Pictou Provincial Court.

    Nova Scotians are encouraged to contact their nearest RCMP detachment or local police to report crime, including the illegal sale of drugs, in their communities. Anonymous tips can be made by calling Nova Scotia Crime Stoppers, toll-free, at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477), submitting a secure web tip at www.crimestoppers.ns.ca, or using the P3 Tips app.

    Note: The PCISCEU is made up of police officers from Pictou County District RCMP, Westville Police Service, and Stellarton Police Service.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Westbourne Green chosen for the central London’s largest Japanese style mini forest | Westminster City Council

    Source: City of Westminster

    London’s largest inner city forest has been planted just metres from the A40 Westway in Westbourne Green. The 426 new trees- known as a micro forest- will help to mitigate the effect of climate change by boosting biodiversity and reducing air and noise pollution in the local area.

    The project, a partnership between Westminster City Council, Ruth Wilmott Associates, and Creating Tomorrows Forests, sees nine different species of native trees including blackthorn, field maple, and crab apple introduced to the Westbourne Green Open Space in the central London’s biggest micro forest. The sapling trees were specifically chosen for their qualities in absorbing air pollution particulates, reducing noise, and adding to the area’s biodiversity by providing shelter, pollen, nectar, and fruit for local wildlife. Funding for the project has been provided through partnership with businesses working to provide community and environmental initiatives.

    Micro forests follow the Miyawaki Method, developed by Japanese biologist Akira Miyawaki, where saplings are densely planted to encourage ten times more rapid growth. Research suggests this method results in 18 times higher biodiversity than more widely spaced plantations as the faster growth rates accelerate the establishment of the micro forests.

    The council is aiming to plant a further 5000 more saplings in six micro forests new trees in the area, bringing Westminster’s total tree population to over 24,000. The new woodland area is part of the local authority’s broader environmental strategy to improve air quality and increase green space.

    Local primary schools are getting involved in the project, with children helping to name the new micro forest and sowing a wildflower meadow. Additional funding through the Rewild London Fund will provide materials to build animal boxes giving local children and their families the opportunity to learn about wildlife and get involved in conservation first hand.

    More information about Westminster City Council’s fairer environment strategy can be found on the council’s website. Creating Tomorrow’s Forests are also looking for businesses to get in touch to learn more about the project and funding.

    Councillor Ryan Jude, Cabinet Member for Climate Action, Ecology and Culture said:

    Not many people would think that a micro forest could be so central, but I’m thrilled that we are adding central London’s biggest plantation of trees to Westbourne Green. This is a huge step forward in mitigating climate change and helping our city become net zero by 2040.”

    “Westminster is home to some of London’s best green spaces so increasing biodiversity and plant life across the city underlines how serious we are improving biodiversity, protecting communities from harmful emissions and teaching younger residents about the value of nature.”

    Jack Gordon, a local resident to Westbourne Green added:

    Community based projects are the lifeblood of any close community and this is such an important way to help green the local area.”

    “More needs to be done understand how important trees and how they help mitigate the excesses of climate change and this can benefit us in so many different ways.”

    Elisabeth Boivin, Managing Director at Creating Tomorrow’s Forests said:

    We are delighted to be involved in this innovative project that will bring such direct benefits to residents around Westbourne Green Open Space, funded by our partnerships with businesses such as Wilmott Dixon and Ecologi. It will be fantastic to show how planting trees has such a positive impact on the local environment, and it is great to have this opportunity to educate people on the advantages of increasing biodiversity in our urban green spaces. We cannot wait to see how the micro forests grow and develop over time.”

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Member Of The 764 Criminal Enterprise Pleads Guilty to Racketeering Conspiracy and Other Charges

    Source: United States Attorneys General 10

    Jairo Jaime Tinajero, 25, pleaded guilty yesterday in the Western District of Kentucky to the following charges contained in the superseding information: racketeering conspiracy, online enticement, three counts of production of child sexual abuse material, three counts of distribution of child sexual abuse material (CSAM), five counts of interstate communications of threats, cyberstalking, and conspiracy to murder Jane Doe 1 in aid of racketeering. The terms of the plea agreement specify that both parties agree to the applicability of the terrorism sentencing enhancement (U.S.S.G. § 3A1.4 n. 4).

    On Oct. 11, 2023, a grand jury in the Western District of Kentucky returned an indictment charging Tinajero with online enticement and production of child sexual abuse material. On Oct. 4, 2023, in the Eastern District of Arkansas, Tinajero was arrested on a criminal complaint that was filed in the Western District of Kentucky.

    According to the court documents, Tinajero is a self-identified member of the 764 network. The 764 network’s accelerationist goals include social unrest and the downfall of the current world order, including the U.S. Government. Beginning in 2020, Tinajero started communicating with, and grooming, several minor victims to obtain sexually explicit content from them, including Jane Doe 1. In 2023, Tinajero began to threaten the safety of Jane Doe 1 and her family. Tinajero posted online in encrypted platforms associated with 764 and related groups a “Lorebook” – commonly used in 764 blackmail schemes — containing Jane Doe 1’s identifying information along with nude pictures of the minor.

    Between July 2023 and September 2023, during multiple discussions over social media, Tinajero and a co-conspirator agreed that Tinajero should kill Jane Doe 1. Tinajero and the co-conspirator specifically discussed that Tinajero should murder Jane Doe 1 and dispose of Jane Doe 1’s body in a barrel of acid after the murder. Tinajero posted multiple messages on various social media websites stating that he planned to kill Jane Doe 1 with a firearm because Jane Doe 1 refused to provide additional child sexual abuse material.

    On Aug. 26, 2023, Tinajero posted on Telegram, “Im determined to die” and “If I gotta kill her I can’t let her live and f**k with dudes and girls while I’m sick and miserable” and “Im gonna live stream it.” Tinajero also posted a picture of Jane Doe 1. On Sept. 2, 2023, Tinajero posted on Telegram, “I wanna kill them so bad just show up at their cribs and shoot 100 rounds in 5 seconds” and, on Sept. 3, 2023, posted “I didn’t wanna do anything bc I was scared of dying or prison but now I’m determined to die if I have to after getting rid of [Jane Doe 1] . . . .” Tinajero also began soliciting others to assist with attempting to kill Jane Doe 1.

    The FBI is investigating the case.

    Assistant U.S. Attorney Erwin Roberts for the Western District of Kentucky and Trial Attorneys Justin Sher and James Donnelly of the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section are prosecuting the case. The Violent Crime and Racketeering Section for the Criminal Division and the Eastern District of Arkansas provided assistance.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Lord Chancellor sets out her vision for the probation service

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    The Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, the Rt Hon Shabana Mahmood MP, made a speech outlining her vision for the future of the probation service.

    Please note the political content has been removed from this speech.

    Today, we are in Southwark, the home of London’s probation service, one of the busiest in the country.

    Here in London, the Service supervises more than 36,000 offenders.

    And, every day, in this building, there are a thousand untold stories of how our probation service protects the public and makes our streets safer.

    I want to talk about the future of our probation service today.

    But to look to that future, I think we must first look to the past.

    Because it was here, in Southwark, that the probation service first took root.

    Over 150 years ago, the Church of England’s temperance movement posted a man called George Nelson to Southwark’s police court.

    Nelson was the first of a band of missionaries, driven by their faith and strict teetotalism, who gave up their time to help offenders give up the drink.

    Addiction then, as addiction now, drove much criminal behaviour…

    And the approach worked.

    In fact, it worked so well that the courts came to rely on missionaries like Nelson.

    A system soon developed where offenders would be released on the condition that they kept in touch with these volunteers.

    Because what began as a moral cause proved to have a practical purpose:

    These missionaries led to less crime and fewer victims.

    As this Government might say: they made our streets safer.

    By the early twentieth century, this voluntary service was so greatly valued that it was placed on a statutory footing.

    The 1907 Probation of Offenders Act established the first formal structure for probation…

    And the volunteers became professionals.  

    In the years that followed, the service grew:

    The 1925 Criminal Justice Act paid probation officers a regular wage.

    By the 1950s, probation’s work expanded to offenders on parole.

    And by the 1980s, the service was focused increasingly on prison releases.

    Over time, the role developed.

    Where the early missionaries were focused on crimes driven by addiction…

    In time, they took responsibility for the management of ever more, and ever more complex, offenders.

    Too often overlooked, with our focus invariably falling on the police or on prisons…

    Probation became an indispensable part of a criminal justice system that keeps us safe.

    It remains so today, now a service that is more than 20,000 strong…

    And probation officers supervise almost a quarter of a million offenders – around three times the number currently serving time in our prisons.

    Each year, they oversee more than 4 million hours of community payback.

    They monitor around 9,000 offenders on a tag at any given moment.

    They provide sentencing advice to hundreds of courts every single day.

    And they also provide a vital link to tens of thousands of victims, through the Victim Contact and the Victim Notification schemes.

    But while there have been bright moments in the service’s past, we must acknowledge the dark days too.

    In 2014 the service was split:

    Part remained in the public sector, managing the highest-risk offenders.

    The rest was hived off, to be run by the private sector, who would supervise those of low and medium risk.

    Community Rehabilitation Companies would bring the ingenuity of the private sector to solve the problem of reoffending.

    The rhetoric was of a revolution in how we manage offenders.

    The reality was far different.

    Workloads increased, as new offenders were brought under supervision for the first time…

    The number of people on probation increased between December 2014 and December 2016, with almost 50,000 offenders newly under its remit.

    Scarce resources were stretched further than ever…   

    Morale plummeted.

    And worrying numbers voted with their feet, leaving the service altogether…

    With the Inspector of Probation declaring a “national shortage” of probation professionals in 2019. 

    The new companies woefully underperformed.

    Between 2017 and 2018, just 5 of 37 audits carried out by HMPPS demonstrated that expected standards were being met.

    In 2019, 8 out of 10 companies inspected received the lowest possible rating – “inadequate” – for supervising offenders.

    The Chief Inspector called them “irredeemably flawed”.

    And the service was labelled ‘inadequate’.

    In 2021, it was finally, rightly, re-unified and re-nationalised.

    Now, make no mistake…

    Every day, across the country, probation staff make this country safer.

    This was clearly evident in the service’s response to the prison capacity crisis.

    With prisons just days from collapse, this Government was forced to introduce an emergency release programme, which saw some offenders leave prison a few weeks or months early.

    The alternative, as I said at the time, did not bear thinking about:

    We would have been forced to shut the front door of our prisons…

    An act that would have sent dominoes tumbling through our justice system:

    Courts unable to hold trials…

    Police forced to halt arrests…

    And the eventual path to a total breakdown of law and order.

    In making that decision, I knew the probation service would have to carry an even heavier load.

    They would have to put in place plans for the safe release of prisoners in just a few weeks.

    I tried to give them as much time as I possibly could to prepare:

    An eight-week implementation period.

    It wasn’t long to prepare, but the probation service used it with great skill.

    But now is also a moment to be honest about the challenges the service faces.

    And the simple fact is this:

    The service was burdened with a workload that was, quite simply, impossible.

    When we took office, we discovered that orders handed out by courts were not taking place.

    In the 3 years to March 2024 around 13,000 Accredited Programmes, a type of rehabilitative course, did not happen.

    This wasn’t because an offender had failed to do what was expected of them…

    But instead because the Probation Service had been unable to deliver these courses.

    As I have shown already in this job, I believe in confronting problems, not pretending they are not there.

    And so, we will ensure only those offenders who pose a higher risk, and who need to receive these courses, will do so.

    This isn’t a decision I take lightly.

    But it is a decision to confront the reality of the challenges facing the probation service.

    I should be clear:

    For those who will not complete an accredited programme, they remain under the supervision of a probation officer…

    And all the other requirements placed upon them will remain in place.

    Any breach of a community sentence could see them hauled back into court.

    Any breach of a licence condition could see them back behind bars.

    Addressing individual issues like these, however, is no long-term solution to the challenges the probation service faces.

    Today, across the country, probation officers are spread too thin – responsible for caseloads and workloads that exceed what they should be expected to handle.

    Probation officers are drawn to the profession not because it is just another job.

    This job is a vocation, even a calling…

    They are, after all, the inheritors of those missionaries of 150 years ago.

    They are experts in their discipline…

    Who want to know that their work is protecting the public…

    And keeping offenders on the straight and narrow.

    Over-stretched, they can’t work with offenders in the way they need to.

    And the burden placed on probation officers’ shoulders grow heavier and heavier.

    It has driven people away from the job…

    It has made the public less safe…

    And it has to change.

    It is clear we need to bring more people into the probation service.

    In July, I committed to bringing on 1,000 trainee probation officers by March of this year.

    But we must go further.

    Today, I can announce that, next year, we will bring on at least 1,300 new, trainee probation officers.

    New probation officers are the lifeblood of the service, and they will guarantee its future.

    But they are not enough alone.

    It is also clear we must remove the administrative burden that weighs probation officers down…

    And makes them less effective in their roles.

    Today, too many hours of probation officer time are wasted each day.

    They are drowning in paperwork.

    And I don’t mean metaphorical paperwork.

    I mean literal pen and paperwork.

    This takes up valuable time, that would be better spent working with offenders…

    And it also introduces the risk of error – the failure to identify the critical piece of information that might shape a professional’s judgement of the risk that an offender poses.

    Where digital processes do exist in the probation service, they can be difficult to navigate.

    Information is stored in multiple different systems that do not speak to each other.

    And probation officers are forced, laboriously, to type the same information time and again.

    We will soon pilot a digital tool that will put all the information a probation officer needs to know into one place.

    Over time, this will include information from other agencies, like the police as we need to make sure data is more readily shared, so that probation can make better decisions.

    We’re also trialling a new system for risk assessing offenders, to make it more straightforward for probation officers to make robust decisions.

    A group of officers in Brighton started using this in December last year…

    And we estimate it will cut up to 20 percent of the time it takes to do this crucial activity.

    It might sound simple, but the impact could be considerable.

    Every minute saved is more time probation officers can spend working with offenders.

    Less simple, but even more transformational, there’s the potential of artificial intelligence.

    We are currently looking into voice transcription.

    This would automatically record and transcribe supervision conversations by taking notes in real time…

    Allowing probation officers to focus on building relationships, while also removing the need for them to enter handwritten notes into a computer afterwards.

    In time, we believe that AI could play a more active role in supporting staff to supervise offenders – for example, drawing on the data we have on an offender to suggest a supervision plan tailored to them.

    This new technology will ensure probation officers provide what only they can:

    The human factor.

    The ability to work with an offender, one-to-one, to understand the risk they pose…

    To develop a plan for how to manage it…

    Ultimately, to turn them away from a life of crime – and so protect the public.

    That is what remains true about the probation officer’s job now, just as it was 150 years ago.

    The courts didn’t turn to the temperance movement’s missionaries because they were great at paperwork.

    They did so because of how they worked with offenders.

    They knew – in the words of the Government Minister who brought in the 1907 Probation Act – how “to guide and admonish” an offender to make the public safer.

    But while new staff and better technology are necessary to the future of our probation service…

    They are not sufficient.

    With a caseload of nearly a quarter of a million offenders…

    We must also look at the work that probation officers are doing…

    And we must ask:

    Where should their time be spent…

    And, more specifically, who should their time be spent with to have the greatest impact?

    In this, it is clear there are two types of offender.

    On the one hand, we have those who pose a higher risk to society.

    In this group, we have those who are dangerous – posing a real risk of harm to the public.

    We also have those whose offending is prolific – the one in every ten offenders who is guilty of nearly half of all sentenced crime.

    On the other hand, we have offenders who pose a lower risk.

    They are not serial offenders, with a high risk of reoffending.

    Their crimes are instead often fuelled by addiction, homelessness, and joblessness.

    These crimes are not excusable.

    All crimes must be punished.

    But these two groups – the higher and lower risk – are different.

    If we want to reduce reoffending, cut crime and have safer streets, we have to treat them differently.

    And too often today, we don’t.

    We have a one size fits all approach.

    That must change.

    For higher-risk offenders, a probation officer’s time and focus is essential.

    It is no exaggeration to say that effective supervision of this cohort can be the difference between life and death.

    We all know the tragedies:  

    I think of Terri Harris, her children John Paul and Lacey Bennett and Lacey’s friend Connie Gent, savagely murdered by Damien Bendall in 2021, when Bendall was serving a community sentence.

    And I think of Zara Aleena, murdered by Jordan McSweeney in 2022, just nine days after he had left prison on licence.

    We will never be able to stop every tragedy.  

    But we have to stop more.

    There are improvements that we can and must make to the processes probation officers follow, and the technology they use.

    We have introduced new training, to better identify risk…

    New digital tools, as I have mentioned already, will draw together the critical pieces of information from partner organisations, like the police.

    But the vital ingredient is time:

    The time of a professional probation officer…

    Devoted to identifying the risk an offender poses…

    Creating a plan to manage it…

    And supervising, closely, that offender to ensure they do not deviate from it.

    That is the human factor that only a probation officer can provide.

    If probation officers are to have this valuable time with these offenders, we must be more efficient with the time they devote to lower-risk offenders.

    At the very end of their time in office, my predecessor introduced a policy called Probation Reset.

    This saw supervision of lower-risk offenders end after two-thirds of their licence period.

    This was a step in the right direction.

    The interventions that work best with lower risk offenders are not necessarily those provided by probation officers.

    So that is where we must now direct the attention of their supervision.

    We need to get these offenders off drugs and booze – reoffending rates are 19 points lower when an offender completes a drug treatment programme.

    We need to ensure they have a roof over their heads – reoffending rates double for those released homeless.  

    And finally, we need to get them working – reoffending rates are up to 9 points lower when an offender is employed.

    The probation service has a role to play here…

    But their unique value is in referring offenders to the intervention that is required to address the cause of their offending.                

    And so today, I can announce that we will build on the work of Reset.

    This Government will focus the probation service on the interventions that have the greater impact.

    For lower risk offenders, we will task probation officers with providing a swifter intervention.

    They will spend more time with an offender immediately after their release:

    First, assessing the root causes of an offender’s crime…

    Then referring them to the services that will address that behaviour:

    Which could be education, training, drug treatment or accommodation…

    Delivered by the probation service, our partners across Government, and through the brilliant work done by the voluntary sector.

    Once offenders are following that direction, as long as the offender stays on the straight and narrow, we must then focus probation officer’s time more effectively:

    That means more time spent with the offenders who pose the greater risk…

    More time with offenders who pose a risk of a serious and violent further offence…

    And more time with offenders whose prolific offending causes so much social and economic damage to local communities.

    That is how we will reduce reoffending…

    That is how we will cut crime…

    And that is how we will make our streets safer.

    These measures are necessary today, but they will be even more important in the months and years to come.

    David Gauke’s independent review of sentencing will report soon.

    He has been asked to ensure we never run out of prison places again.

    There is no doubt that this will increase pressure on probation.

    As I made clear when I announced the review, I have asked David to consider how we make more use of punishment outside of prison.

    In my view, technology is likely to play a key role – taking advantage of advances in the tech that is being used here and in other jurisdictions:

    Like sobriety tags, which can measure the alcohol levels in offenders’ sweat every 30 minutes, and have a 97 percent compliance rate…

    And GPS tags, which can put in place exclusion zones to alert authorities if offenders enter areas we have banned them from.

    There are also likely to be more sentences served in the community…

    And more drug, alcohol and mental health treatment requirements placed on offenders.

    These are the tools that must be at the judiciary’s disposal to deal with criminals…

    And judges must have trust and confidence that the probation service can deliver them.

    The changes I have announced today are about support for the probation service:

    1,300 new trainee probation officers…

    New technology to lighten the administrative burden…

    And a new focus of their time on where it has the greatest impact.

    Today, I have set out what I think the future direction of the probation service must be.

    And I think we must, finally, consider the alternative. 

    What would happen if we allowed probation to carry on as it is?

    What would happen if we allowed the service to be stretched so thin, trying to do too much with too many offenders…

    Too much time spent doing the wrong things, and not enough time doing what is right and what works.  

    We know what the consequences would be.

    We’ve seen it in the stories of far too many victims…

    And the pain their friends and families have experienced – and continue to experience – every single day. 

    When the probation service isn’t able to properly assess the risk of offenders or supervise them…

    Innocent people pay a terrible price.

    The first job of the state is to keep its people safe.

    We are willing to take the difficult decisions, where they must be taken.

    I will support probation officers, both the new recruits we will bring in and the professionals of whom we have asked so much in recent years.

    While they are professionals these days, and experts in their field…

    They are drawn to the profession by the same desire that called to those missionaries a hundred and fifty years ago:

    To encourage offenders to turn their backs on crime…

    And to make our streets and the public safer.

    To fulfil that purpose now, we must do things differently.

    And that begins today.

    Thank you.

    Updates to this page

    Published 12 February 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI Security: U.S. Attorney’s Office Secures Guilty Plea from Shiprock Woman in Straw Purchase Case

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    ALBUQUERQUE – A Shiprock woman pleaded guilty to federal charges related to the straw purchase of a firearm that was later used in a violent crime spree and murder.

    According to court documents, on April 24, 2024, Brittania Navaho, 29, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation, purchased a revolver and ammunition from a pawn shop in Gallup, New Mexico, on behalf of Rydell Happy, a convicted felon prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition.

    At sentencing, Navaho faces up to 15 years in prison followed by three years of supervised release.

    U.S. Attorney Alexander M.M. Uballez, and Raul Bujanda, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Albuquerque Field Office, made the announcement today.

    The Farmington Resident Agency of the FBI Albuquerque Field Office investigated this case with assistance from Navajo Nation Police Department, the Navajo Nation Department of Criminal Investigations and the McKinley County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant United States Attorney R. Eliot Neal is prosecuting the case.

    This case is being prosecuted as part of the Department of Justice’s Missing or Murdered Indigenous Persons (MMIP) Regional Outreach Program, which aims to aid in the prevention and response to missing or murdered Indigenous people through the resolution of MMIP cases and communication, coordination, and collaboration with federal, Tribal, state, and local partners.

    This case is being prosecuted under the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. The Act is a federal statute specifically designed to target the unlawful trafficking and straw-purchasing of firearms.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Security: New Orleans Man Sentenced for Fentanyl and Methamphetamine Conspiracy

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – KENNETH TURNER (“TURNER”), age 37, was sentenced on February 5, 2025 by U.S. District Judge Lance M. Africk to 130 months in prison, followed by four years of supervised release, and a $100 mandatory special assessment fee, after previously pleading guilty to conspiracy to distribute, and possess with intent to distribute, 40 grams or more of fentanyl and 50 grams or more of methamphetamine, in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Sections 841(a)(1) and 841(b)(1)(B).

    According to court documents, TURNER’s co-defendant made five distributions of fentanyl and methamphetamine to undercover agents as well as a confidential informant with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.  TURNER supplied his co-defendant with the drugs and assisted in the storage, weighing and packaging of the drugs for distribution.  The total scope of the conspiracy exceeded 420 grams of fentanyl and 370 grams of methamphetamine.  When TURNER was arrested, he had more than $15,000 cash in his personal possession.

    This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone.  On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.

    The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.  Assistant United States Attorney David Berman of the Violent Crime Unit is in charge of the prosecution.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Lord Chancellor’s sets out her vision for the probation service

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    The Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, the Rt Hon Shabana Mahmood MP, made a speech outlining her vision for the future of the probation service.

    Please note the political content has been removed from this speech.

    Today, we are in Southwark, the home of London’s probation service, one of the busiest in the country.

    Here in London, the Service supervises more than 36,000 offenders.

    And, every day, in this building, there are a thousand untold stories of how our probation service protects the public and makes our streets safer.

    I want to talk about the future of our probation service today.

    But to look to that future, I think we must first look to the past.

    Because it was here, in Southwark, that the probation service first took root.

    Over 150 years ago, the Church of England’s temperance movement posted a man called George Nelson to Southwark’s police court.

    Nelson was the first of a band of missionaries, driven by their faith and strict teetotalism, who gave up their time to help offenders give up the drink.

    Addiction then, as addiction now, drove much criminal behaviour…

    And the approach worked.

    In fact, it worked so well that the courts came to rely on missionaries like Nelson.

    A system soon developed where offenders would be released on the condition that they kept in touch with these volunteers.

    Because what began as a moral cause proved to have a practical purpose:

    These missionaries led to less crime and fewer victims.

    As this Government might say: they made our streets safer.

    By the early twentieth century, this voluntary service was so greatly valued that it was placed on a statutory footing.

    The 1907 Probation of Offenders Act established the first formal structure for probation…

    And the volunteers became professionals.  

    In the years that followed, the service grew:

    The 1925 Criminal Justice Act paid probation officers a regular wage.

    By the 1950s, probation’s work expanded to offenders on parole.

    And by the 1980s, the service was focused increasingly on prison releases.

    Over time, the role developed.

    Where the early missionaries were focused on crimes driven by addiction…

    In time, they took responsibility for the management of ever more, and ever more complex, offenders.

    Too often overlooked, with our focus invariably falling on the police or on prisons…

    Probation became an indispensable part of a criminal justice system that keeps us safe.

    It remains so today, now a service that is more than 20,000 strong…

    And probation officers supervise almost a quarter of a million offenders – around three times the number currently serving time in our prisons.

    Each year, they oversee more than 4 million hours of community payback.

    They monitor around 9,000 offenders on a tag at any given moment.

    They provide sentencing advice to hundreds of courts every single day.

    And they also provide a vital link to tens of thousands of victims, through the Victim Contact and the Victim Notification schemes.

    But while there have been bright moments in the service’s past, we must acknowledge the dark days too.

    In 2014 the service was split:

    Part remained in the public sector, managing the highest-risk offenders.

    The rest was hived off, to be run by the private sector, who would supervise those of low and medium risk.

    Community Rehabilitation Companies would bring the ingenuity of the private sector to solve the problem of reoffending.

    The rhetoric was of a revolution in how we manage offenders.

    The reality was far different.

    Workloads increased, as new offenders were brought under supervision for the first time…

    The number of people on probation increased between December 2014 and December 2016, with almost 50,000 offenders newly under its remit.

    Scarce resources were stretched further than ever…   

    Morale plummeted.

    And worrying numbers voted with their feet, leaving the service altogether…

    With the Inspector of Probation declaring a “national shortage” of probation professionals in 2019. 

    The new companies woefully underperformed.

    Between 2017 and 2018, just 5 of 37 audits carried out by HMPPS demonstrated that expected standards were being met.

    In 2019, 8 out of 10 companies inspected received the lowest possible rating – “inadequate” – for supervising offenders.

    The Chief Inspector called them “irredeemably flawed”.

    And the service was labelled ‘inadequate’.

    In 2021, it was finally, rightly, re-unified and re-nationalised.

    Now, make no mistake…

    Every day, across the country, probation staff make this country safer.

    This was clearly evident in the service’s response to the prison capacity crisis.

    With prisons just days from collapse, this Government was forced to introduce an emergency release programme, which saw some offenders leave prison a few weeks or months early.

    The alternative, as I said at the time, did not bear thinking about:

    We would have been forced to shut the front door of our prisons…

    An act that would have sent dominoes tumbling through our justice system:

    Courts unable to hold trials…

    Police forced to halt arrests…

    And the eventual path to a total breakdown of law and order.

    In making that decision, I knew the probation service would have to carry an even heavier load.

    They would have to put in place plans for the safe release of prisoners in just a few weeks.

    I tried to give them as much time as I possibly could to prepare:

    An eight-week implementation period.

    It wasn’t long to prepare, but the probation service used it with great skill.

    But now is also a moment to be honest about the challenges the service faces.

    And the simple fact is this:

    The service was burdened with a workload that was, quite simply, impossible.

    When we took office, we discovered that orders handed out by courts were not taking place.

    In the 3 years to March 2024 around 13,000 Accredited Programmes, a type of rehabilitative course, did not happen.

    This wasn’t because an offender had failed to do what was expected of them…

    But instead because the Probation Service had been unable to deliver these courses.

    As I have shown already in this job, I believe in confronting problems, not pretending they are not there.

    And so, we will ensure only those offenders who pose a higher risk, and who need to receive these courses, will do so.

    This isn’t a decision I take lightly.

    But it is a decision to confront the reality of the challenges facing the probation service.

    I should be clear:

    For those who will not complete an accredited programme, they remain under the supervision of a probation officer…

    And all the other requirements placed upon them will remain in place.

    Any breach of a community sentence could see them hauled back into court.

    Any breach of a licence condition could see them back behind bars.

    Addressing individual issues like these, however, is no long-term solution to the challenges the probation service faces.

    Today, across the country, probation officers are spread too thin – responsible for caseloads and workloads that exceed what they should be expected to handle.

    Probation officers are drawn to the profession not because it is just another job.

    This job is a vocation, even a calling…

    They are, after all, the inheritors of those missionaries of 150 years ago.

    They are experts in their discipline…

    Who want to know that their work is protecting the public…

    And keeping offenders on the straight and narrow.

    Over-stretched, they can’t work with offenders in the way they need to.

    And the burden placed on probation officers’ shoulders grow heavier and heavier.

    It has driven people away from the job…

    It has made the public less safe…

    And it has to change.

    It is clear we need to bring more people into the probation service.

    In July, I committed to bringing on 1,000 trainee probation officers by March of this year.

    But we must go further.

    Today, I can announce that, next year, we will bring on at least 1,300 new, trainee probation officers.

    New probation officers are the lifeblood of the service, and they will guarantee its future.

    But they are not enough alone.

    It is also clear we must remove the administrative burden that weighs probation officers down…

    And makes them less effective in their roles.

    Today, too many hours of probation officer time are wasted each day.

    They are drowning in paperwork.

    And I don’t mean metaphorical paperwork.

    I mean literal pen and paperwork.

    This takes up valuable time, that would be better spent working with offenders…

    And it also introduces the risk of error – the failure to identify the critical piece of information that might shape a professional’s judgement of the risk that an offender poses.

    Where digital processes do exist in the probation service, they can be difficult to navigate.

    Information is stored in multiple different systems that do not speak to each other.

    And probation officers are forced, laboriously, to type the same information time and again.

    We will soon pilot a digital tool that will put all the information a probation officer needs to know into one place.

    Over time, this will include information from other agencies, like the police as we need to make sure data is more readily shared, so that probation can make better decisions.

    We’re also trialling a new system for risk assessing offenders, to make it more straightforward for probation officers to make robust decisions.

    A group of officers in Brighton started using this in December last year…

    And we estimate it will cut up to 20 percent of the time it takes to do this crucial activity.

    It might sound simple, but the impact could be considerable.

    Every minute saved is more time probation officers can spend working with offenders.

    Less simple, but even more transformational, there’s the potential of artificial intelligence.

    We are currently looking into voice transcription.

    This would automatically record and transcribe supervision conversations by taking notes in real time…

    Allowing probation officers to focus on building relationships, while also removing the need for them to enter handwritten notes into a computer afterwards.

    In time, we believe that AI could play a more active role in supporting staff to supervise offenders – for example, drawing on the data we have on an offender to suggest a supervision plan tailored to them.

    This new technology will ensure probation officers provide what only they can:

    The human factor.

    The ability to work with an offender, one-to-one, to understand the risk they pose…

    To develop a plan for how to manage it…

    Ultimately, to turn them away from a life of crime – and so protect the public.

    That is what remains true about the probation officer’s job now, just as it was 150 years ago.

    The courts didn’t turn to the temperance movement’s missionaries because they were great at paperwork.

    They did so because of how they worked with offenders.

    They knew – in the words of the Government Minister who brought in the 1907 Probation Act – how “to guide and admonish” an offender to make the public safer.

    But while new staff and better technology are necessary to the future of our probation service…

    They are not sufficient.

    With a caseload of nearly a quarter of a million offenders…

    We must also look at the work that probation officers are doing…

    And we must ask:

    Where should their time be spent…

    And, more specifically, who should their time be spent with to have the greatest impact?

    In this, it is clear there are two types of offender.

    On the one hand, we have those who pose a higher risk to society.

    In this group, we have those who are dangerous – posing a real risk of harm to the public.

    We also have those whose offending is prolific – the one in every ten offenders who is guilty of nearly half of all sentenced crime.

    On the other hand, we have offenders who pose a lower risk.

    They are not serial offenders, with a high risk of reoffending.

    Their crimes are instead often fuelled by addiction, homelessness, and joblessness.

    These crimes are not excusable.

    All crimes must be punished.

    But these two groups – the higher and lower risk – are different.

    If we want to reduce reoffending, cut crime and have safer streets, we have to treat them differently.

    And too often today, we don’t.

    We have a one size fits all approach.

    That must change.

    For higher-risk offenders, a probation officer’s time and focus is essential.

    It is no exaggeration to say that effective supervision of this cohort can be the difference between life and death.

    We all know the tragedies:  

    I think of Terri Harris, her children John Paul and Lacey Bennett and Lacey’s friend Connie Gent, savagely murdered by Damien Bendall in 2021, when Bendall was serving a community sentence.

    And I think of Zara Aleena, murdered by Jordan McSweeney in 2022, just nine days after he had left prison on licence.

    We will never be able to stop every tragedy.  

    But we have to stop more.

    There are improvements that we can and must make to the processes probation officers follow, and the technology they use.

    We have introduced new training, to better identify risk…

    New digital tools, as I have mentioned already, will draw together the critical pieces of information from partner organisations, like the police.

    But the vital ingredient is time:

    The time of a professional probation officer…

    Devoted to identifying the risk an offender poses…

    Creating a plan to manage it…

    And supervising, closely, that offender to ensure they do not deviate from it.

    That is the human factor that only a probation officer can provide.

    If probation officers are to have this valuable time with these offenders, we must be more efficient with the time they devote to lower-risk offenders.

    At the very end of their time in office, my predecessor introduced a policy called Probation Reset.

    This saw supervision of lower-risk offenders end after two-thirds of their licence period.

    This was a step in the right direction.

    The interventions that work best with lower risk offenders are not necessarily those provided by probation officers.

    So that is where we must now direct the attention of their supervision.

    We need to get these offenders off drugs and booze – reoffending rates are 19 points lower when an offender completes a drug treatment programme.

    We need to ensure they have a roof over their heads – reoffending rates double for those released homeless.  

    And finally, we need to get them working – reoffending rates are up to 9 points lower when an offender is employed.

    The probation service has a role to play here…

    But their unique value is in referring offenders to the intervention that is required to address the cause of their offending.                

    And so today, I can announce that we will build on the work of Reset.

    This Government will focus the probation service on the interventions that have the greater impact.

    For lower risk offenders, we will task probation officers with providing a swifter intervention.

    They will spend more time with an offender immediately after their release:

    First, assessing the root causes of an offender’s crime…

    Then referring them to the services that will address that behaviour:

    Which could be education, training, drug treatment or accommodation…

    Delivered by the probation service, our partners across Government, and through the brilliant work done by the voluntary sector.

    Once offenders are following that direction, as long as the offender stays on the straight and narrow, we must then focus probation officer’s time more effectively:

    That means more time spent with the offenders who pose the greater risk…

    More time with offenders who pose a risk of a serious and violent further offence…

    And more time with offenders whose prolific offending causes so much social and economic damage to local communities.

    That is how we will reduce reoffending…

    That is how we will cut crime…

    And that is how we will make our streets safer.

    These measures are necessary today, but they will be even more important in the months and years to come.

    David Gauke’s independent review of sentencing will report soon.

    He has been asked to ensure we never run out of prison places again.

    There is no doubt that this will increase pressure on probation.

    As I made clear when I announced the review, I have asked David to consider how we make more use of punishment outside of prison.

    In my view, technology is likely to play a key role – taking advantage of advances in the tech that is being used here and in other jurisdictions:

    Like sobriety tags, which can measure the alcohol levels in offenders’ sweat every 30 minutes, and have a 97 percent compliance rate…

    And GPS tags, which can put in place exclusion zones to alert authorities if offenders enter areas we have banned them from.

    There are also likely to be more sentences served in the community…

    And more drug, alcohol and mental health treatment requirements placed on offenders.

    These are the tools that must be at the judiciary’s disposal to deal with criminals…

    And judges must have trust and confidence that the probation service can deliver them.

    The changes I have announced today are about support for the probation service:

    1,300 new trainee probation officers…

    New technology to lighten the administrative burden…

    And a new focus of their time on where it has the greatest impact.

    Today, I have set out what I think the future direction of the probation service must be.

    And I think we must, finally, consider the alternative. 

    What would happen if we allowed probation to carry on as it is?

    What would happen if we allowed the service to be stretched so thin, trying to do too much with too many offenders…

    Too much time spent doing the wrong things, and not enough time doing what is right and what works.  

    We know what the consequences would be.

    We’ve seen it in the stories of far too many victims…

    And the pain their friends and families have experienced – and continue to experience – every single day. 

    When the probation service isn’t able to properly assess the risk of offenders or supervise them…

    Innocent people pay a terrible price.

    The first job of the state is to keep its people safe.

    We are willing to take the difficult decisions, where they must be taken.

    I will support probation officers, both the new recruits we will bring in and the professionals of whom we have asked so much in recent years.

    While they are professionals these days, and experts in their field…

    They are drawn to the profession by the same desire that called to those missionaries a hundred and fifty years ago:

    To encourage offenders to turn their backs on crime…

    And to make our streets and the public safer.

    To fulfil that purpose now, we must do things differently.

    And that begins today.

    Thank you.

    Updates to this page

    Published 12 February 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI Security: 90th INTERPOL General Assembly

    Source: Interpol (news and events)

    18-21 October 2022, New Delhi, India

    The General Assembly is INTERPOL’s supreme governing body and comprises delegates appointed by the governments of our member countries.

    It meets once a year and takes all the major decisions affecting general policy, the resources needed for international cooperation, working methods, finances and programmes of activities. These decisions are in the form of resolutions.

    INTERPOL unveils first ever Metaverse designed for law enforcement at General Assembly.

    INTERPOL President Ahmed Naser Al-Raisi, INTERPOL Secretary General Jürgen Stock and India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the opening of the 90th General Assembly.

    90th General Assembly.

    Police officers at 90th General Assembly.

    INTERPOL Secretary General Jürgen Stock with members of the Executive Committee (2021/2022).

    Opening of the 90th General Assembly.

    Secretary General Jürgen Stock reading INTERPOL’s 2022 Global Crime Trend Report.

    90th General Assembly.

    This year, the General Assembly will meet for its 90th session in New Delhi, India. The agenda is expected to include presentations, workshops and discussions on the following subjects:

    The future of policing

    With our member countries, we are exploring diverse perspectives on the future of policing in an increasingly digitalized world. What are the challenges, how can we respond to threats posed by technology and how should we shape our vision for 2030?

    Policing today’s crimes

    Different panels will look at topical policing initiatives. This will include:

    INTERPOL’s Global Crime Trends Report

    This document provides member countries with an overview of the main crime threats in the world.

    Executive Committee Elections

    The General Assembly elects new members to the Executive Committee as the incumbents end their mandate. This year, two posts are up for election: the vice-president for Europe, and the delegate for Africa.

    INTERPOL’s Centenary

    In 2023, INTERPOL will celebrate 100 years since the founding of the International Criminal Police Commission, which then became INTERPOL in 1956. A series of activities are planned to raise awareness of the role of international policing; past, present and future.

    Police have been gathering to discuss international policing for 100 years – pictured here are delegates at the 2nd session of the General Assembly held in Berlin, Germany in 1924.

    Partnerships

    This panel will discuss how multi-stakeholder strategic partnerships can support law enforcement across the world to face the challenges in global security.

    Diversity

    INTERPOL is committed to increasing the geographical and gender diversity of its workforce so it can better reflect and serve its global membership.

    Workshops

    Different workshops will look at technology, innovation and global financial crime, giving participants the chance to share ideas in smaller groups.

    Host country: India

    We thank India and the officials from New Delhi for hosting this year’s General Assembly and welcoming our delegates from member countries. We recognize the time and effort it takes to put on an event of this scale.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Will the Gaza ceasefire hold? Where does Trump’s takeover proposal stand? Expert Q&A

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Scott Lucas, Professor of International Politics, Clinton Institute, University College Dublin

    As the deadline approaches for the end of phase one of the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, the likelihood of the agreement making it to the scheduled second phase on March 1 look increasingly remote. Middle East expert, Scott Lucas, addresses the key questions.

    What are the chances of the ceasefire holding into phase two?

    Even before Donald Trump’s proposal for the clearing and redevelopment – what would amount to the ethnic cleansing – of Gaza, an agreement to move from phase one to phase two at the start of March was an increasingly remote possibility.

    We almost did not have a first phase. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu had held out against a deal for months, and he was under pressure from two hard-right ministers – finance minister Bezalel Smotrich and national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir – not to proceed.

    In the end, Netanyahu acceded because of families seeking the return of their relatives held hostage by Hamas, and because of an approach by Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff.

    Smotrich stayed in the cabinet while Ben-Gvir left but his party said it would continue support for the government. However, both demanded that there be no second phase. They called instead military action to eradicate Hamas and the resettlement of the population of GAza – voluntary or otherwise.

    In the next phase, the Israeli military is supposed to withdraw fully from Gaza while Palestinian governance is restored in the Strip. Israel and the US will demand that Hamas will leave power – indeed, the Israelis may call for Hamas leaders to leave the territory – and Hamas will refuse to do so.

    Trump’s demand for an end of “occupation” of Gaza, not by the Israelis but by Gazans, confirmed the demise of the process. There is no chance that Hamas negotiators will agree to a “solution” in which most if not all residents are evicted.

    That is why Trump, using the pretext of Hamas obstruction of phase one, stopped portraying himself as a “peacemaker” on Monday. Instead, he proclaimed: “All bets are off and let hell break out” — in effect, returning to a blank cheque for Israel’s military action, blockade of humanitarian aid, and mass killing across Gaza.

    Is Donald Trump serious about redeveloping Gaza?

    Many media outlets have been negligent in excusing Trump’s statements by saying alternatively that he is not serious or that he is “thinking outside the box” with his egregious statements.

    Trump’s proposal for “development” of Gaza, clearing out the population, was not just a thought bubble. In his first term, he repeatedly spoke of North Korea’s “great beaches” and “waterfront property” as a prime location for condos and hotels. In March 2024, his son-in-law Jared Kushner turned to the Middle East, saying: “Gaza’s waterfront property could be very valuable… From Israel’s perspective I would do my best to move the people out and then clean it up.”

    Last summer, the Trump team asked Joseph Pelzman, a professor of economic and international affairs at George Washington University to propose a plan for the Strip. He summarised: “You have to destroy the whole place, you have to restart from scratch … It requires that the place be completely emptied out. I mean, literally emptied out.”

    Within a week of returning to the White House on January 20, Trump was telling reporters that Gaza’s civilians should be removed from the “demolition site”. Just over a week later, alongside Netanyahu, he expanded on the declaration – reportedly in a statement written by Kushner.

    What about international law?

    Trump’s proposal is a clear violation of international law. The Geneva conventions stipulate that civilians should not be transferred outside of their territory unless it is “impossible” to do otherwise.

    UN spokesman Stéphane Dujarric told reporters: “Any forced displacement of people is tantamount to ethnic cleansing.”

    But, the Trump administration does not appear to care about international law. Two days after his appearance with Netanyahu, Trump signed an executive order sanctioning the International Criminal Court.

    Indeed, the administration does not believe it should face any legal oversight in the US. As Trump and Elon Musk attempt to destroy US agencies, with mass firings and seizure of records that may be unconstitutional and illegal, the US vice-president, J.D. Vance, maintains: “Judges aren’t allowed to control the executive’s legitimate power.” Trump, demanding the impeachment of a judge who ruled against the unauthorised access to records, said: “No judge should, frankly, be allowed to make that kind of a decision.”

    Does the US have sufficient support to do this?

    Absolutely not, especially if Trump tries to fulfil his declaration that the US should “own” Gaza. Apart from Israel, no country has given support to Trump’s proposal. And most Americans, even Trump backers, would be loath to have “ownership” which required intervention by US troops.

    As for the countries Trump wants to send Palestinians to, they are vehement in their opposition. Within hours of Trump’s February 4 statement, he got a firm rebuttal from Saudi Arabia. Riyadh cited “the Kingdom’s firm and supportive positions on the rights of the Palestinian people” and reinforced its recent shift to “firm and unwavering” support of a Palestinian state.

    The foreign ministry emphasised that this was the position of Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman and noted his phone call with King Abdullah of Jordan as a sign of solidarity.

    After Netanyahu said the Saudis “have plenty of territory” for a Palestinian state, Riyadh denounced the “extremist, occupying mentality” that seeks to expel Palestinians from Gaza.

    Egyptian foreign minister Badr Abdelatty told US secretary of state Marco Rubio on Monday in Washington that Arab states rejected Trump’s pitch. Abdelatty stressed the importance of Gaza’s reconstruction while Palestinians remained there.

    And, on the eve of King Abdullah’s visit to Washington, Jordan expressed its “rejection of any attempts to annex land and displace the Palestinians”.

    How do you see this developing in the foreseeable future?

    Trump and the Israelis will now shift attention to Hamas as an existential threat who cannot be treated as a partner in a phase two ceasefire.

    Phase one is due to expire on March 1. I predict that Israel will return to its open-ended war across Gaza, probably sooner than that.

    And Trump, who only recently presented himself as a “peacemaker”, will give unconditional backing – while bemoaning that Gazans, up to 90% of them displaced from their homes, still won’t leave the Strip.

    Scott Lucas does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. Will the Gaza ceasefire hold? Where does Trump’s takeover proposal stand? Expert Q&A – https://theconversation.com/will-the-gaza-ceasefire-hold-where-does-trumps-takeover-proposal-stand-expert-qanda-249751

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Security: La Loche — La Loche RCMP asking public to report sightings of Rolfe Herman

    Source: Royal Canadian Mounted Police

    La Loche RCMP is asking the public to report sightings and information on the whereabouts of 35-year-old Rolfe Herman.

    Rolfe Herman is wanted by La Loche RCMP for charges including assault with a weapon, uttering threats, and fail to comply with probation order. These charges were laid in relation to a February 7, 2025 investigation.

    Rolfe Herman is described as approximately 6’2″ tall and 190 lbs. He has brown hair and brown eyes. He has a skull and snake tattooed on his right shoulder and tribal art tattooed on his right arm.

    Rolfe Herman is known to frequent the Saskatoon and North Battleford areas, but his current whereabouts are unknown.

    La Loche RCMP continue to investigate.

    Report all sightings and information about the whereabout of Rolfe Herman to your local police at 310-RCMP. Information can also be submitted anonymously by contacting Saskatchewan Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) or www.saskcrimestoppers.com.

    MIL Security OSI –