On Friday, July 19, 2024, the Nigerian government fined Meta Platforms $220 million after an internal investigation revealed the technology conglomerate had repeatedly violated Nigeria’s data protection and consumer rights laws on WhatsApp and Facebook. In a statement issued by Nigeria’s Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), officials claimed Meta had violated its data laws in five ways: “Denying Nigerian consumers the right to self-determination, unauthorized transfer and sharing of personal data (including cross-border storage), discriminatory practices and disparate treatment of Nigerian consumers, abuse of dominant market positions, and the tying and bundling of service.”

         On July 29, 2024, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) upheld the validity of various provisions of the EU directive requiring all intermediaries and, in their absence, the taxpayer involved in potentially aggressive cross-border tax arrangements to report them to the competent authorities.  In 2020, some organizations representing lawyers and tax consultants brought proceedings in the Belgian Constitutional Court to annul the Belgian law transposing the directive.  

          Shortly before the Summer recess, some organizations and organs worked together to address a serious problem: human trafficking. The actors included: the European Union, the UN Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and the US Department of State.

        On July 24, 2024, a grand jury in Kansas City, Kansas, returned an indictment charging North Korean national, Rim Jong Hyok, for his participation in a conspiracy to hack and extort U.S. hospitals and other healthcare providers, launder the ransom proceeds, and employ the proceeds to fund additional computer intrusions into defense, technology, and government entities worldwide.  

          On July 30, 2024, the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) announced that it had seized a record-breaking amount of drugs in 31 countries during Operation Lionfish Hurricane. Conducted in April and May 2024, the operation led to 206 arrests in connection with European, African, and South American drug trafficking networks. 

         In July, the International Monetary Fund issued reports on anti-money laundering/counter-terrorism financing (AML/CFT) in Panama and a report on the Financial Sector Assessment Program.  In particular, the latter focuses on financial safety net, resolution, and crisis management.

        On July 17, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced the arrest of former government official, Sue Mi Terry, who allegedly accepted luxury gifts from South Korean intelligence officers in exchange for U.S. government information. According to court documents, Terry worked in the Central Intelligence Agency and was a senior White House National Security Council official for over a decade. On July 16, she was indicted by a Grand Jury for having allegedly served as an agent of the Government of the Republic of Korea (ROK) without registering as a foreign agent under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA).

         On July 25, two nationals of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) pleaded guilty to acting as unregistered agents of the PRC and bribing an IRS agent in connection with a conspiracy to target U.S.-based practitioners of Falun Gong, a spiritual practice that the PRC forbids. The defendants pleading guilty were John Chen, 71, of the PRC and Los Angeles, California, and Lin Feng, 44, also a resident of Los Angeles. 

        Between April 10 and July 3, 21 countries ran an international law enforcement operation, Operation Jackal III, to thwart the schemes of West African cybercrime syndicates. The International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) which helps national police work together to track and investigate suspects, criminals, and criminal organizations, led the operation.

        With the help of Europol and INTERPOL, law enforcement officials from 25 countries recovered 6,400 cultural goods and made 85 arrests in yet another phase of Operation Pandora. The operation involved “several thousand checks [conducted] at airports, ports and border crossing points, as well as in auction houses, museums and private residences.