Multiple arrests in Britain as authorities intercept multi-million-pound cash smuggling and laundering operation

Regulatory Watch News

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  AMLA holds public hearings to consult on draft ITS for FIU cooperation

  AMLA

  May 13, 2026

  AMLA is consulting on three draft Implementing Technical Standards that introduce common formats for cooperation between Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs) and between AMLA, FIUs and the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO). Consistent and reliable information flows are as important to AML/CFT enforcement as the information itself. These three instruments strengthen how that information is shared, both between national FIUs and between AMLA, FIUs and the EPPO.

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  Germany: EPPO orders searches and arrest in probe into €18 million VAT fraud

  European Public Prosecutor's Office

  May 13, 2026

  (Luxembourg, 13 May 2026) – At the request of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Frankfurt (Germany), eight searches were carried out and one individual was arrested yesterday on suspicion of orchestrating a €18 million VAT carousel fraud through the sale of small electronic goods. Searches have been carried out on company premises located in the federal states of Saarland and Saxony, in the company warehouses, as well as in the homes of four suspects including the arrested employee. In addition, a seizure order for €18 million has been granted at EPPO’s request.

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  Syndicate member jailed over failed plot to import cocaine inside printers

  Australia Federal Police

  May 13, 2026

  A Victorian man, 47, has been sentenced to nine years’ jail over his role in a plot to import 22.4kg of cocaine into Australia. Australian Border Force (ABF) officers intercepted a consignment of five printers in Melbourne on 30 April, 2017, locating 10 packages of compressed white powder concealed within their paper trays. Presumptive testing indicated the substance was cocaine, with the total seizure weighing 22.4kg. The drugs were removed and substituted with another material. The consignment was transported via a controlled delivery to a factory in Airport West, Victoria.