On November 11, 2024, Eurojust announced its participation in a law enforcement operation, resulting in the indictment of thirty-eight persons and the seizure of 2,000 forged works of contemporary art.  The law enforcement takedown was the culmination of a one-and-one-half-year investigation by Italian authorities, working with Eurojust, Belgian, French, and Spanish counterparts.  The dismantling of the network prevented economic damage of € 200 million.[1]

                On August 28, 2024, two Dutch lawyers brought an action in the European Court of Justice to annul provisions of the European Union Anti-Money Laundering regulation as they apply to lawyers.[1]

                On October 30, 2024, the U.S. Department of the Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced the sanctioning of 275 individuals and entities involved in furnishing Russia with advanced technology and equipment that Russia “desperately needs to support its war machine.”  The sanctions are directed at both individual actors and sanctions evasion networks across 17 jurisdictions, including India, the People’s Republic of China (PRC), Switzerland, Thailand, and Türkiye. OFAC is also targeting domestic Russian importers and producers of key inputs and other materials for Russia’s military-industrial base.

                On October 15, 2024, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report that found that the majority of recovered firearms in the Caribbean were traced to the U.S. and trafficked through various means. The Department of Justice’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) traces the origin of firearms recovered in Caribbean countries at the request of Caribbean law enforcement agencies or ATF officials in the Caribbean.[1]

                On November 12, 2024, a jury in a U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Virginia, found a U.S. defense contractor liable for its participation in the torture of three Iraqi men at Abu Ghraib prison in 2003-2004 in the case of Al Shimari et al v. CACI.  The defendant, CACI, was ordered to pay each of the three plaintiffs $3 million in compensatory damages and $100 million in punitive damages, for a total of $42 million.[1]

                On November 19, 2024, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) launched its report, Under the Guns: Firearms Trafficking in Latin America and the Caribbean.[1]  The report points out that even though only eight percent of the world lives in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), the region has one-third of all homicides worldwide.  Arms trafficking is now more than a law enforcement challenge.  Transnational organized criminals (TCOs) use the proliferation of semi- and fully automatic rifles, grenade launchers, and various high-caliber weapons to endanger the sovereignty of various countries, most recently Haiti and Ecuador.[2] The report makes a number of recommendations for each of the regions.

                On November 6, 2024, INTERPOL announced that between September 29 to October 4, 2024, it conducted an operation leading to the rescue of 3,222 potential victims of human trafficking and identified 17,793 irregular migrants.  The operation was done with law enforcement authorities in 116 countries and territories.[1]  

               Even though only a few days have elapsed since the United States Presidential elections on November 5, 2024, important implications can be drawn from the results.

               On November 12, 2024, a former Miami banker pleaded guilty to his role in a bribery and money laundering scheme involving the former Comptroller General of Ecuador.

                Over the past month, multiple Palestinian detainees have alleged that the Israeli Army has been using them as human shields. The use of human shields during times of war is not unprecedented; however, Israeli soldiers have taken this abuse to a whole new level. According to Al Jazeera and Haaretz, Israeli troops are abducting Palestinians, dressing them in Israeli military uniforms, and forcing them to enter areas that are thought to be booby-trapped or targets. These practices significantly differ from when Israeli forces previously allowed Palestinian detainees to wear their civilian clothes and used robots and trained dogs as shields.