NEWS: Amsterdam bulks up efforts against money laundering in souvenir shops

Regulatory Watch News

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  Treasury Sanctions Cartel-Linked Casinos and Key Associates on U.S.-Mexico Border

  OFAC

  April 14, 2026

  WASHINGTON—Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned six targets involved in a money laundering and cash smuggling enterprise operated by Cartel del Noreste (CDN), one of Mexico’s most violent drug trafficking organizations. CDN is a U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) that exerts significant influence along the U.S.-Mexico border near Laredo, Texas, the busiest land port of entry on the southern border.  The three individuals designated today play central roles in advancing CDN’s criminal dominance over the Nuevo Laredo plaza in Tamaulipas, Mexico, supporting the cartel’s broader illicit operations, which include fentanyl trafficking, human smuggling, money laundering, and extortion.  Today’s action also targets two CDN-affiliated casinos, one of which is located just two miles from the U.S. border.

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  Update to UK Sanctions List: Afghanistan Regime and Global Human Rights Regime

  UK Government

  April 14, 2026

  Today, Tuesday 14 April, the UK Government has amended the designations of the following 4 individuals sanctioned under the Afghanistan Sanctions Regime. This reflects the decision to amend these designations made by UN Security Council Sanctions Committee pursuant to Resolution 1988 (2011) on 13 April.   Amended Individuals:

  Name:	UN ID:	Unique ID:
  Mohammad Hassan AKHUND	TAi.002	AFG0006
  Abdul Ghani Baradar ADBUK AHMAD TURK	TAi.024	AFG0024
  Amir Khan MOTAQI	TAi.026	AFG0026
  Gul Agha ISHAKZAI	TAi.147	AFG0115

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  Six charged in relation to £13.8 million cannabis haul at Birmingham Airport

  National Crime Agency

  April 14, 2026

  Six men have been charged as part of a National Crime Agency investigation into the seizure of more than half a tonne of cannabis at Birmingham Airport. Kyle Gribben, Zaeon Hunter, Lashan Walker, all aged 26; James Turner and Torian Robinson, both aged 25, and Devonte Newman, aged 22, were arrested by NCA officers, supported by Bedfordshire Police, at addresses in the Marsh Farm area of Luton and Finchley, north London, in October 2024. They are suspected of organising the attempted importation of cannabis between 1 June 2024 and 9 August 2024, including the incident at Birmingham Airport on 9 August which resulted in 11 air passengers from various locations in the UK being arrested and charged. All 11 had flown into the UK from Thailand via Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport.