Monthly Archives: October 2016

From: The Irish Times

Narcotics trade, fraud and smuggling among primary drivers of black economy in State

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From: Doha News

Five men have been arrested for trying to bribe a customs officer into smuggling an illicit tobacco shipment into Qatar.

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According to court documents, the first defendant, a 28-year-old driver, offered a QR200,000 bribe to a customs officer to release a shipment of tobacco that was prohibited from entering the country.

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Editor’s Note: Cross-posted from the Counterfeit Cigarette Study Forum.

From: Union des fabricants pour la protection internationale de la propriété intellectuelle (Unifab)

FORWARD

Still all too often considered as a minor offence, industrial and commercial counterfeiting currently represents a real threat to both the global economy and consumers alike, to the environment or the stability of States.

While counterfeiting harms the companies that fall victim to it, therefore ruining innovation and destroying jobs, it hurts consumers, who put their health and safety at risk by purchasing products that do not meet the safety standards in force. It is also the source of significant losses in tax revenues for States, eventually resulting in declining growth and therefore fewer public services for citizens.

Editor’s Note: Cross-posted from Counterfeit Cigarette Study Forum.

From: The International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence (ICSR) | Department of War Studies, King’s College London

About this Study

• The presence of former criminals in terrorist groups is neither new nor unprecedented. But with Islamic State and the ongoing mobilisation of European jihadists, the phenomenon has become more pronounced, more visible, and more relevant to the ways in which jihadist groups operate. In many European countries, the majority of jihadist foreign fighters are former criminals.

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From: Q96.1

By Phil Shaw

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