International

Italian mafia drug trafficker caught in Dubai

AFP

One of Italy’s most wanted international drug barons has been arrested in Dubai, police said on Thursday, following more than six years on the run.

Raffale Imperiale, considered one of Italy’s most dangerous fugitives, was a top operative from the organised crime world of Naples, who in 2016 was believed to have fled to the Gulf emirate.

He was arrested August 4 by Dubai authorities following coordination with Interpol and Europol, police in Naples said in a statement.

They described Imperiale, 47, as a “long-time top level player in international drug trafficking and money laundering” who over the years built up “an impressive network of international traffickers, in particular of cocaine.”

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Italy’s justice ministry was preparing extradition proceedings, police said.

Imperiale — part of the Amato-Pagana clan within Naples’ Camorra organised crime syndicate — left Italy for Amsterdam in the 1990s to manage a coffee shop, and began allying himself with Dutch traffickers, according to Italian daily La Repubblica.

After first dealing in ecstasy tablets, he set his sights on the more lucrative cocaine trade, moving tons of drugs into Holland for the European market with the help of South American traffickers, while at the same time operating restaurants and investment companies, the paper said.

In 2016, Italian police found two Van Gogh paintings that had been stolen from Amsterdam’s Van Gogh museum 14 years earlier inside a home outside Naples belonging to Imperiale.

The paintings — “View of the Sea at Scheveningen” and “Congregation Leaving the Reformed Church at Nuenen” — were stolen in a daring heist.

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Police on Thursday said a close cohort of Imperiale, Vincenzo Aprea — a well-known Camorra boss now in prison — had been able to buy the paintings on the black market using drug money.

Central America

U.S. extradites Iranian man over alleged sanctions evasion scheme

The United States has extradited from Panama an Iranian national accused of evading economic sanctions against Iran by illegally exporting U.S. technology. He is scheduled to appear this Monday before a court in Seattle.

Reza Dindar, 44, was extradited on April 17 after being detained in Panama since July 2025 on charges related to export control violations between 2011 and 2012, allegedly carried out through companies based in China.

The defendant appeared before a U.S. district court in Seattle, where he faces charges of violating sanctions imposed by the United States on Iran in 1995 during the administration of Bill Clinton. These sanctions prohibit the unauthorized export, re-export, or supply—directly or indirectly—of U.S. goods, technology, or services to Iran or its government.

According to the indictment, between 2010 and 2014, Dindar led the company New Port Sourcing Solutions in Xi’an, China, which allegedly concealed the procurement of U.S. products for shipment to clients in Iran.

International

Elon Musk skips French court appearance over X investigation

Billionaire Elon Musk did not appear this Monday before French authorities, who had summoned him for a voluntary statement as part of an investigation into his social media platform X, prosecutors told AFP.

The platform has been under investigation since early 2025 following complaints from lawmakers alleging bias in its algorithms, which may have altered its functioning and interfered in politics in France.

The probe has since expanded to include other alleged offenses, such as complicity in the distribution of child sexual abuse material, as well as the role of Grok in spreading denialist content and sexually explicit fake images.

In early February, investigators raided X’s offices in Paris. The company has denied any wrongdoing, describing the searches as “political” and “abusive.”

At that time, the Paris prosecutor’s office summoned Musk and former CEO Linda Yaccarino to provide voluntary testimony as those responsible for the platform during the period under investigation.

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Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau also stated that X employees were called to testify as witnesses between April 20 and April 24.

International

Four injured in shooting at Teotihuacán archaeological site in Mexico

Four more people were injured by gunfire during the ആക്രമ attack at Teotihuacán, one of the most emblematic archaeological complexes in Mexico, authorities confirmed.

The Secretary of Security of the State of Mexico, Cristóbal Castañeda, reported that the victims include two Colombian nationals, one Russian, and one Canadian. Additionally, two other individuals were injured due to falls, according to a statement from local authorities.

President Claudia Sheinbaum expressed concern over the incident, stating on social media that “what happened today in Teotihuacán deeply pains us.”

Federal authorities recovered a firearm, a knife, and ammunition at the scene, which remains under the protection of state police and the Guardia Nacional, according to the federal Security Cabinet.

Located about 50 kilometers from Mexico City, Teotihuacán is a major tourist destination frequently visited by both domestic and international travelers.