On June 17, 2022, the British Home Secretary Priti Patel approved Wikileaks founder Julian Assange’s extradition to the United States.  Assange has fourteen days to appeal the decision.   The Home Secretary observed that “(t)he UK courts have not found that it would be oppressive, unjust or an abuse of process to extradite Mr. Assange.”[1]

On June 6, 2022, Merrick B. Garland, the Attorney General of the United States, issued a report in response to the President’s Executive Order on Ensuring Responsible Development of Digital Assets.  The Report recommends expanding the U.S. government’s operational and capacity building efforts with international partners; increasing information sharing, coordination, and deconfliction; and closing regulatory gaps across jurisdictions.[1]

In April 2022, the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) started a five-part campaign against human smuggling.[1]   At the Summit of the Americas, leaders from the Western Hemisphere presented the Los Angeles Declaration on Migration and Protection, which seeks to mobilize the entire region around bold actions around four key pillars to transform the Western Hemisphere’s approach to managing migration. [2]

On June 20, 2022, a readout of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris’ meeting with leaders of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the Dominican Republic show efforts to increase security cooperation and engagement, including countering small arms trafficking.[1]  During March and April 2022, the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM)[2] and the Caribbean Community Implementation Agency for Crime and Security (CARICOM IMPACS) hosted a Technical Meeting on Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing and Organized Crime in the Fishing Industry.[3]   On September 2, 2021, INTERPOL and the Government of Barbados announced the signing of an agreement to pen an INTERPOL liaison office aimed at increasing Caribbean police cooperation and security.[4]

On June 14, 2022, the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) launched its European Drug Report 2022, which details the latest overview of the drug situation in Europe and emerging threats.[1]

On June 3, the Danish Ministry of Justice announced that police in Dubai have arrested Sanjay Shah, one of the suspected perpetrators in the cum-ex dividend fraud case on a Danish extradition warrant.  The arrest follows close collaboration between Denmark and the UAE. [1]   In particular, in March 2022, the UAE and Denmark concluded both a mutual legal assistance treaty and an extradition treaty.[2]

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York has issued a seizure warrant to seize two planes, a Boeing 787-8 aircraft and a Gulfstream G650ER aircraft owned and controlled by Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich.  The warrant is based on the finding that the airplanes are subject to seizure and forfeiture based on probable cause of violations of the Export Control Reform Act (ECRA) and the recent sanctions issued against Russia.[1]

On May 24, 2022, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals issued its opinion in El Omari v. INTERPOL.   The court held that the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) qualifies as a public international organization for the purposes of 22 U.S.C. § 288 immunity and that Interpol had not waived its immunity to prosecution.  El Omari is the most recent challenge to the perceived abuses of Interpol’s reporting system.

On May 25, 2022, the Gambian government said it will prosecute 70 alleged perpetrators, including former president Yahya Jammeh, named in the True, Reconciliation, and Reparation Commission’s (TRCC) report.  The Ministry of Justice accepted 263 of 265 recommendations made by the commission and announced the creation of a special court to prosecute alleged perpetrators, senior officials, and former president Yahya Jammeh.

Switzerland has launched administrative proceedings to confiscate over USD 100 million in assets linked to the regime of former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych, with the ultimate aim of returning these to Ukraine.