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Crime & Public Safety — July 2026

Liberia sacks 12 officials after cocaine busts

Liberian President Joseph Boakai has dismissed 12 government officials after major cocaine seizures that triggered public calls for tougher action. A late Thursday statement said Boakai ordered dismissals, suspensions and investigations after reviewing the st…

Mohamed Al-Fayed abuse probe: UK police question two

London's Metropolitan Police said Friday it had questioned two people suspected of helping late Harrods owner Mohamed Al-Fayed, who is accused of sexually abusing dozens of employees and subjecting them to gynaecological examinations. Police said one man in h…

Malaysian pilot risks death over 70,000 ecstasy pills

A Malaysian pilot arrested in Indonesia with more than 70,000 ecstasy tablets in his suitcase risks the death penalty or life imprisonment if convicted of smuggling, Indonesian officials said. The 39-year-old pilot, identified only by the initials MSO, was ar…

Winnipeg mosque shooting denounced by Carney

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney denounced a shooting at the Rahma Islamic Centre in Winnipeg as an act of Islamophobia after no one was injured in the Wednesday night incident. “This violent act of Islamophobia is appalling and has no place in Canada. I'm…

Carlos Manzo killing mastermind captured, Mexico says

Mexico said on Thursday it had captured the alleged mastermind behind the assassination of Uruapan mayor Carlos Manzo, who was killed in November 2025 during Day of the Dead celebrations. Security Secretary Omar Garcia Harfuch identified the suspect as Ramon…

Nepal unrest leaves 3 dead as PM urges calm

Nepal's Prime Minister Balendra Shah appealed for calm on Thursday after unrest in the country's south left three people dead and led authorities to impose curfews in Sunsari and neighbouring districts. Officials said the violence began late Sunday in a villa…

Colombia congressman's home targeted with explosive

The home of Colombian congressman Ariel Rodriguez was targeted with an explosive device in Cucuta shortly before midnight on Wednesday, police said. Police said the device was thrown into the backyard of Rodriguez, a Liberal Party congressman and supporter of…

Nigeria deports pangolin trafficking suspect to China

Nigerian police said they arrested a Chinese man in Abuja and deported him to Shanghai to face wildlife trafficking charges over about 12 tonnes of pangolin scales. Police identified the man as Cai Jinlian, 42, and said he was arrested on July 18 and sent to…

Nigeria dismantles meth lab after $360m bust

Nigerian authorities dismantled an alleged meth lab in southwestern Ogun state on Wednesday after a $360 million bust that officials said pointed to Mexican cartel involvement. Officers from the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency brought in workers to take…

Russian drone maker founder wounded in Tula shooting

Andrei Cherezov, the director and founder of Russian drone manufacturer Russian Air Transport Laboratory, was wounded in a shooting in Tula early Wednesday, and prosecutors opened an attempted murder investigation. Russia's Izvestia newspaper reported that Ch…

Ecuador police find seven charred bodies in La Troncal

Ecuadorian police found seven charred bodies inside a house in La Troncal, a town in the southern province of Canar, authorities said. Police said the bodies were found Tuesday in a rural area. A police report said two of the bodies were tied with wire and th…

British woman's body found in Athens suitcase, ERT says

A 38-year-old British woman was found dead in a suitcase in an abandoned building in central Athens, Greek state broadcaster ERT reported Wednesday. ERT said a homeless person found the body on July 18. The broadcaster said Interpol data helped identify the w…

Israeli settler arrested over Huwara assault, police say

Israeli police said Wednesday they arrested an Israeli settler suspected of violently assaulting Palestinians in the occupied West Bank while wearing military uniform in June. Police said the attack took place on June 6 in the Palestinian town of Huwara in th…

Patrick Bruel accused by two more women of sex abuse

Patrick Bruel, one of France's best-known pop singers and actors, has been accused by two more women of sexual abuse, their lawyer said Tuesday. The allegations lodged this month include sexual assault and rape. They follow Bruel being charged in June with ra…

French deaths in South Africa: two arrested in Luxembourg

Two suspects have been arrested in Luxembourg in an investigation into the deaths of three French nationals in South Africa, French prosecutors said on Tuesday. The bodies of three adults were found on July 11 at two separate locations near Pretoria, said Gau…

Guinea rape case involving two teens sparks outrage

The gang rape of two teenage girls in eastern Guinea has sparked a nationwide campaign against sexual violence and calls for justice. The April rapes were filmed and shared on social media. Four men were arrested in Mandiana, in eastern Guinea, and another su…

Medjugorje shrine vandalism suspect arrested in Bosnia

Bosnian police arrested a 31-year-old foreign national suspected of vandalising the Catholic pilgrimage site of Medjugorje and setting fire to a nearby altar days before a major youth prayer gathering. Police confirmed the arrest on Tuesday. A police spokeswo…

French couple held after five babies' remains found

A French couple has been taken into custody after the remains of five infants were found in boxes at their home in Orange, southeastern France, judicial sources said on Wednesday. The remains were discovered on Monday, a day after the 32-year-old woman gave b…

Kyoto man arrested over seven years of loud guitar noise, police say

Japanese police arrested a 61-year-old Kyoto man after neighbours said years of loud guitar playing and radio noise had caused health problems, a local police officer said. The officer told AFP that Kazunori Yokoi had allegedly played dozens of guitars and hi…

Mexico City shooting near presidential palace kills one, wounds two

One person died and two others were wounded Monday in a shooting near Mexico City's Zocalo public square and presidential palace, authorities said. Mexico City's Security Secretariat described the shooting as a "direct attack" in which a 42-year-old man was k…

Gunmen kidnap High Court judge from his home in northwest Nigeria

Gunmen kidnapped High Court judge Faruku Hassan Bunza from his home in Bunza town in northwestern Nigeria’s Kebbi state on Sunday morning, police said. Kebbi police spokesman Bashir Usman told AFP that the judge was abducted shortly after returning to Bunza.…

Paris knife attack suspect moved to psych unit

Paris prosecutors said Tuesday that a man arrested over a knife attack that wounded three women in the French capital has been removed from custody and placed in a police psychiatric unit. The unidentified man was stopped by an off-duty police officer on Mond…

Algeria detains seven arson suspects as fire wave kills at least six

Seven people suspected of involvement in recent fires in Algeria have been placed in pre-trial detention as a wave of forest and scrub fires has killed at least six people since mid-July. The official APS news agency cited an Algiers court as saying the suspe…

Four arrested after €500m cocaine haul intercepted off Lisbon

Portuguese maritime police intercepted a speedboat carrying more than 2.6 tonnes of cocaine off the coast of Lisbon, Italian financial police said on Monday. Four people were arrested: two Spanish nationals, one Albanian and one man from Gibraltar, according…

Costa Rica arrests drug trafficker known as El Diablo

Costa Rican police arrested Alejandro Arias Monge, described by officials as the country's most wanted drug trafficker, on Friday in an operation that officials said left one person dead and eight police officers injured. Arias Monge, known as "El Diablo," wa…

Thieves steal 2,500-year-old gold necklace from French museum

Thieves stole a 2,500-year-old gold necklace from a museum in eastern France on Friday, prosecutors said. Dijon prosecutor Olivier Caracotch said the thieves smashed the display glass protecting the Celtic-era jewellery at the Chatillon-sur-Seine museum in Bu…

Two people stabbed near Central Park in New York

Two people were stabbed Thursday in separate attacks near Manhattan's Central Park, officials said. New York City police commissioner Jessica Tisch said the victims were an Asian male and a Jewish male. Both were hospitalized and were expected to survive. New…

US sanctions people and firms over alleged Jalisco cartel links

The United States announced sanctions on Thursday targeting more than 50 Mexican individuals and entities allegedly linked to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, including a man Washington says is the cartel's new leader. According to the US Treasury Departmen…

Woman charged in France over killing of British expatriate

French prosecutors have charged a 70-year-old woman with the murder of Karen Carter, a British expatriate who was fatally stabbed in southwestern France in 2025. Carter, who played for the local Reines du Foot, or “Queens of Football,” team, was killed in the…

Liberia reports $317 million cocaine seizure near Monrovia

Liberian authorities announced the seizure of nearly four tonnes of cocaine valued at about $317 million in a major drug bust that included the arrest of two foreign nationals. The Liberian National Police posted photos showing a large open-bed truck carrying…

Mexican mayor shot dead inside town hall

A local mayor in central Mexico was shot dead inside town hall facilities, authorities said Wednesday. The victim was Valentin Lavin, mayor of Temoac in the state of Morelos. The source described Morelos as a region close to Mexico City where several drug car…

French modelling scout linked to Epstein found dead near Paris

French modelling scout Daniel Siad, who had close ties to convicted US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, has been found dead at his home outside Paris, prosecutors and his lawyer said. Siad was 69 and had said he also held Swedish citizenship. The prosecutor's of…

Woman injured in Modena car ramming dies

A 55-year-old woman who was seriously injured in a May 16 car ramming in Modena, northern Italy, has died of her injuries, the local hospital said. The woman was hurt along with her husband and six other people when Salim el Koudri, a 31-year-old Italian of M…

Court hears abortion texts in D4vd murder case

A Los Angeles court has heard text messages that prosecutors said showed American singer D4vd asking a teenage girl about an abortion after a sexual encounter, during a hearing on whether there is enough evidence to prosecute him. D4vd, whose real name is Dav…

German report warns AI is increasingly used in child sexual abuse

German authorities warned on Tuesday that artificial intelligence and digital technology are playing a growing role in the sexual abuse of children, with criminal abusers increasingly using those tools. Holger Muench, head of Germany's Federal Criminal Police…

Suspect in Stade shelter shooting found dead in jail

A man suspected of fatally shooting six child welfare workers at a shelter for mothers in Stade, northern Germany, died by suicide in jail on Tuesday, officials said. The Lower Saxony state justice ministry said jail staff found the suspect dead in his single…

Italian police seize cocaine hidden in banana shipment

Italian police said on Tuesday that they had seized pure cocaine with an estimated street value of 250 million euros, or $286 million, at a port in northwest Italy. Police said about 770 kilograms, or 1,700 pounds, of cocaine was hidden in a refrigerated cont…

Knife attacker injures two tourists at Acropolis entrance

A man with a knife attacked a Greek-American couple at the base of the Acropolis shortly after the site opened on Tuesday, 21 July, Athens police said. Police said the attack happened at about 8:05 am local time, five minutes after the gates opened to the Par…

Remains in France identified as missing woman Delphine Jubillar

Human remains found in southern France last week have been identified as those of Delphine Jubillar, a woman missing since 2020, Toulouse prosecutor Nicolas Jacquet said on Sunday. The remains were found during searches on agricultural land in Mailhoc, in the…

Norway unveils memorial to 77 victims of 2011 attacks

Norway unveiled a memorial in Oslo on Sunday to the 77 people killed in the July 22, 2011 attacks, the deadliest peacetime massacre in the country's history. Anders Behring Breivik set off a bomb in a van near government headquarters in Oslo, killing eight pe…

Burned body found in southern Italy identified as sports journalist

A charred body found by firefighters in farmland in the southern Italian province of Salerno has been identified as local sports journalist Luigi Esposito, prosecutors said. Firefighters discovered the body while extinguishing a fire in a farm plot in Eboli,…

Man arrested after small fire in Paris park

A 23-year-old man was arrested in Paris after allegedly saying he intended to set fire to the Bois de Boulogne, one of the French capital's largest parks, a police source said. Police were called late Friday to a fire in the western Paris park. The source sai…

The Hague residents evacuated after illegal drug lab found

Authorities in The Hague evacuated residents from dozens of homes on Saturday after an illegal drug lab was found in their neighbourhood, Dutch officials said. It was the second time in 24 hours that residents were asked to leave because of the lab. Barrels c…

Monaco bombing target says he did not expect threat to his life

Ukrainian-born millionaire Vadym Yermolaiev, who was wounded in a bombing attack in Monaco last month, said he did not know who might want him dead and had not believed his life was in danger before the attack. Yermolaiev, 58, remains in hospital. In his firs…

One killed and police officer wounded in Denmark shooting

One person was killed and a police officer was wounded in northern Denmark on Friday after a gunman opened fire on officers responding to a report of a building fire, police said. The shooting happened in an industrial area of Norresundby. Police said a civil…

UN rights expert urges justice over Honduras palm farm massacre

A United Nations rights expert demanded justice for workers killed at a palm plantation in Honduras and urged reparations for the families of those killed. Morris Tidball-Binz, the UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, said…

Mexican journalist covering security issues killed in Puebla

A Mexican journalist who focused on security issues was killed Thursday in a drive-by shooting in the central state of Puebla, the local government announced. Josue Martinez was director of Noticias San Martin Texmelucan, where he covered security and major e…

Idaho mother who blamed vaccines accused of killing twins

An American mother was kept in pretrial detention on Tuesday on charges that she suffocated her 18-month-old twins and then tried to blame their deaths on vaccines, US media reported. Andrea Shaw, 23, claimed that her children suffocated eight days after rece…

UK man charged with murder of former MP Ann Widdecombe

British prosecutors said Monday that they had charged 28-year-old Joshua Kerry with the murder of Ann Widdecombe, a veteran right-wing former member of parliament. Frank Ferguson from the Crown Prosecution Service said prosecutors had decided to prosecute Ker…

EU prosecutors say VAT fraud network dismantled in Greece

On 14 July 2026, the European Public Prosecutor's Office said it had dismantled a tax fraud network that caused budget losses of at least 46.9 million euros, or $53 million, in Greece and other countries. The EU prosecutors' office said searches and seizures…

Berlin man charged over alleged rapes of 14 women

German prosecutors said Tuesday that a 68-year-old Berlin man has been charged over allegations that he sedated and raped women he met on dating apps and filmed the assaults. The Berlin prosecutors' office said the charges brought so far cover 22 alleged rape…

Peter Nygard found guilty in additional sexual assault case

Peter Nygard, founder of one of Canada's largest clothing brands, was found guilty on Monday in Montreal of sexual assault in an additional criminal case. He was also found guilty of forcible confinement after his lawyers did not contest the allegations. Pros…

Nigerian school kidnap survivor describes beatings and chains

A Nigerian school principal said on Monday that some of the more than 40 schoolchildren kidnapped in May were blindfolded and beaten while in captivity, and that male staff were blindfolded, handcuffed and chained. Rachael Alamu, head of one of the affected s…

UK police arrest 12 in probe into alleged threat to Islamic event

UK police arrested 12 people as part of an extreme right-wing terrorism-related investigation into an alleged threat against an Islamic event in eastern England, counter-terrorism police said. The UK Ijtima, a large Islamic gathering held in Suffolk over the…

Toronto police say festival shooting victims were targeted

Toronto police said the two people killed in a weekend shooting at a music festival were targeted. Police Chief Myron Demkiw said the victims were males aged 25 and 20 who knew each other, and that police believe they were targeted. Four other people were inj…