Indonesia arrests 285 in drug crackdown and seizes over half a ton of narcotics
JAKARTA, Indonesia — Indonesian authorities said Monday they arrested 285 people suspected of drug trafficking, including 29 women and seven foreigners, and seized over half a ton of various narcotics during a two-monthlong nationwide crackdown.
Indonesia is a major hub for drug trafficking in Southeast Asia despite having strict drug laws, with convicted smugglers sometimes executed by firing squad.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
WIRED
26 minutes ago
- WIRED
Telegram Purged Chinese Crypto Scam Markets—Then Watched as They Rebuilt
Jun 23, 2025 12:48 PM Last month, Telegram banned black markets that sold tens of billions of dollars in crypto scam-related services. Now, as those markets rebrand and bounce back, it's done nothing to stop them. One month ago, the messaging app Telegram summarily beheaded the online industry of Chinese-language crypto scam services: It banned virtually all accounts related to the first and second most popular marketplaces for vendors offering money laundering, stolen data, and a variety of other illicit wares to the vast criminal enterprises carrying out investment scams from compounds across Southeast Asia. Then, Telegram watched impassively as those black marketeers rebranded, rebuilt, and returned to business as usual on the messaging service's platform. On Monday, crypto tracing firm Elliptic published a new report showing how the industry of Telegram-based Chinese-language black markets for crypto scammers has bounced back in the wake of Telegram's takedown last month of the two biggest of those bazaars, known as Haowang Guarantee and Xinbi Guarantee. Before Telegram banned the two markets' channels and usernames on May 13, they had together enabled a staggering $35 billion in transactions, much of which represented money laundering by crypto scam operations that steal billions from Western victims and force tens of thousands of people to carry out scams in forced labor compounds across Cambodia, Myanmar and Laos. Since Telegram's purge, however, Elliptic has found that other smaller markets have now grown to almost entirely fill the vacuum those two key marketplaces left behind—and Telegram appears to have no plans to stop them. In particular, one market called Tudou Guarantee, partially owned by Huione Group, the same parent company as the now-defunct Haowang Guarantee, has more than doubled in size, likely taking in many of the scammer-friendly services displaced by Telegram's bans and again enabling those fraudsters' billions of dollars a year in illicit revenue. Its main channel now has 289,000 users by Elliptic's count, close to the 296,000 users that Haowang Guarantee had at its peak. Xinbi Guarantee, too, has relaunched on new channels and regained hundreds of thousands of users, Elliptic says. In terms of sales, Tudou is now enabling around $15 million a day in crypto payments, close to the $16.4 million Haowang was facilitating daily, according to Elliptic. 'Telegram recognized this was illicit activity and the kind they didn't want to be hosting, and so they deleted the channels and banned the associated usernames. But it was clear that these people wouldn't just give up, that they would transfer to different marketplaces,' says Tom Robinson, Elliptic's cofounder. 'These scammers have inflicted misery on millions of victims around the world, stealing billions of dollars. Unless these marketplaces are actively pursued, they will continue to flourish.' Posts Elliptic shared with WIRED from Tudou Guarantee—now by some measures the biggest black market on the internet—show examples of money laundering services, offers of scam website development, and vendors selling stolen personal data that scammers use for targeting. Another Tudou post explicitly offers prostitution, including references to possible minors: 'Students, queens, lolita,' the post states next to pictures of young women. 'All available!!' WIRED reached out to Tudou Guarantee for comment via an administrator's Telegram account but didn't receive a response. Before they were taken down by Telegram, Xinbi Guarantee and Haowang Guarantee displayed similar posts offering explicitly illegal services in all those categories and more. Like the newly ascendant Tudou Guarantee, those other 'Guarantee' marketplaces didn't directly sell services, but instead offer escrow and deposit features that prevent vendors from defrauding customers. When WIRED asked Telegram in May about a report from Elliptic that focused on Xinbi Guarantee's criminal offerings, Telegram responded with a broad purge: It banned not only Xinbi's accounts but also those of Haowang Guarantee, the much larger market that had persisted for three years, enabled around $27 billion in transactions, and sold scam industry services as explicit as the batons and shackles used to imprison forced laborers in scam compounds. In a statement sent to WIRED at the time, Telegram spokesperson Remi Vaughn wrote that 'communities previously reported to us by WIRED or included in reports published by Elliptic have all been taken down,' and added that 'criminal activities like scamming or money laundering are forbidden by Telegram's terms of service and are always removed whenever discovered.' Since then, however, Elliptic has continued to share its findings about apparent money laundering activity on ten other markets, including Tudou Guarantee, in a Telegram group that included a WIRED reporter and a Telegram spokesperson. Yet Telegram didn't take down any of the accounts related to the black markets Elliptic highlighted. Xinbi Guarantee has, in fact, rebuilt at new accounts without even rebranding. It still hasn't faced new account bans, despite Telegram itself stating that the market's content violated its terms of service. In a statement to WIRED, a Telegram spokesperson defended the company's apparent decision not to ban the rebounding black markets. 'The channels in question predominantly involve users from China, where rigid capital controls often leave citizens with little choice but to seek alternative avenues for moving funds internationally,' the statement reads. "We assess reports on a case-by-case basis and categorically reject blanket bans—particularly when users are attempting to circumvent oppressive restrictions imposed by authoritarian regimes. We remain unwavering in our commitment to safeguarding user privacy and defending fundamental freedoms, including the right to financial autonomy.' Elliptic's Robinson rejects that argument. 'We've been researching these marketplaces for nearly two years now, and they're not about helping people achieve financial autonomy,' Robinson says. 'These are marketplaces that primarily facilitate money laundering for the proceeds of fraud and other illicit activity." Erin West, a former prosecutor who now leads the non-profit Operation Shamrock, an organization focused on disrupting crypto scam operations, states her accusation against Telegram more simply. 'These are bad guys, enabling bad guy business on their bad guy platform,' West argues. 'They have the ability to shut down a scam economy and the trafficking of human beings. Instead, they're hosting Craigslist for crypto scammers.' Telegram's seemingly inconsistent approach to banning crypto scam black markets may have less to do with its principles of 'financial autonomy' than with trying not to run afoul of the US government, says Jacob Sims, a visiting fellow at Harvard University's Asia Center. In early May, the US Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network officially labeled Huione Group a 'primary money laundering concern.' Sims argues that designation, which referred directly to Haowang Guarantee but not Tudou Guarantee, may have spurred Telegram to take action—and that it may take another similar move at the government level to push Telegram to act again. 'Ultimately, last month's crackdown shows how disruptive Telegram can be when it does cooperate, but it also shows how fast the scammers are going to adapt,' Sims says. 'There's no real legal culpability that tech companies have for what happens on their platform unless there's a specific case brought to their attention by law enforcement. And so, until that changes, I just don't know what incentive they have to be proactive.'
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Unmarked Police Cars Are Designed to Fool You but These Clues Give Them Away
Being pulled over is not a fun experience! Sitting on the side of the highway while waiting for the police officer to come knocking on your window, wondering if you can talk your way out of the situation. Luckily, there are some ways drivers can attempt to identify unmarked police cars to avoid getting pulled over. An unmarked police cruiser is simply a police car without any of the badging, labels, and colors. It can look almost like a civilian car, blending in with everyday traffic. While it's probably not recommended to try to point out unmarked cars instead of, you know, just driving safely and within the law, there are some things to keep in mind. We developed this guide by analyzing multiple online sources, including reputable publications such as LifeHacker and Car Throttle, and community-driven discussions on platforms like Reddit. These sources offer expert insights and firsthand experiences from drivers encountering unmarked police vehicles. The information was carefully selected to align with commonly reported indicators of unmarked police cars. I'm no expert at evading the law — the most I've gotten are a few disputed tickets. So to find the most useful signs for spotting unmarked police cars, I checked out publications like LifeHack as well as the r/driving subreddit and other forums where drivers clearly are scared of getting pulled over for whatever reason. From here, I looked up how valid these telltale signs really were and then chose the ones that seemed the most obvious for drivers to identify themselves. Just don't use this guide for evil — and if you do, don't mention me. The easiest way to spot an unmarked police car is to keep an eye out for specific car models. American brands often have a specific model that was created with the police department in mind, meeting performance and feature requirements. This includes cars like the Ford Police Interceptor Utility with a manual pursuit mode and the Dodge Charger Pursuit with its HEMI V8 engine. We're not saying all Fords and Dodges are police cars, but maybe don't challenge them at a stoplight just in case. LifeHacker states you should look for the following models: 2021 Chevrolet Tahoe PPV (RWD and 4WD) 2021 Dodge Charger Pursuit (AWD and RWD) 2021 Dodge Durango Pursuit 2020 Ford Police Interceptor Utility (based on the 2020 Ford Explorer) 2021 Ford F-150 Police Responder According to Quora, while some unmarked police cars have license plates that look no different from yours or mine, there may be a few giveaways that could give you a better indicator. Some unmarked police cars may sport municipal or exempt tags, and others don't have registration stickers. Basically, cops are above the law. Who knew? Unmarked police cars are still police cars, so they'll often have a lot of the same features. One dead giveaway is the cage that's used to separate cops from whoever is sitting in the back seat. Also called a "prisoner partition," a cage is used to keep cops and their equipment safe. According to Detective Sgt. Gordon Eatley on Quora, not all undercover police vehicles will have this feature, depending on what they're used for. However, if you see a car or truck driving around with this, it's safe to assume it's a cop vehicle, and you should slow down before you end up in the backseat yourself. You may not even have to squint into the car's backseat to notice some questionable police-related memorabilia. Unmarked police cars will often have the same gear that's found on regular police cars, like dark-tinted windows and a bullbar over the front grille. According to Car Throttle, a super common equipment that even unmarked cop cars can't resist is spotlights. There will often be at least one, which can be found on the driver's side door near the mirror. If you see one of those behind you, it's a bad day to have expired plates. Patrol cars and other police vehicles are kept very clean, according to a site dedicated to police news and equipment. Why? Most cars are shared between officers, and it's just common courtesy to keep the vehicle tidy and safe. If the car behind you looks extra shiny and free of blemishes, it could be a cop car. That's not always the case, of course — there's plenty of anal people out there that are scrubbing their cars down if even a speck of dirt is noticeable. But it's better to be safe than sorry, pulled over on the side of the road by a disinfected cop car. It's not only the car's appearance that may give away its true identity — it could be how the vehicle is driven. However, according to Blu-Eye, a company developing automotive technology, that's not a fool-proof way to identify an unmarked car, as depending on the situation, they may drive cautiously or more aggressively. If a car seems to be tailgating you, that's also sketchy behavior. If you feel as if the car is watching you or following you, it could be a nosy cop, so it's best to make sure you're obeying all traffic laws just to be on the safe side. While police cars are decked out with extra safety features like the aforementioned cage and bullbar, police departments aren't going to splurge on frivolous add-ons. Deputy Sheriff Paul Harding writes on Quora that most police cars are base models, meaning they didn't pay extra for a higher trim. For this reason, you'll often see black trim instead of chrome, including on the wheels. In case you're planning your next Fast & Furious-style bank heist, keep these tips in mind for spotting unmarked police cars. While unmarked cars can sometimes blend into daily traffic, there are some dead giveaways, like police gadgets on the outside and missing registration on the license plate. And remember, check your state's individual rules regarding unmarked police cars — some states don't allow unmarked cops to pull you over for speeding and other offenses.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Judge cites community impact in 10-year sentence for 'high-level' drug trafficker
A Newfoundland and Labrador judge handed down a 10-year sentence to a man for drug trafficking — exceeding what both the defence and Crown had been seeking — citing the role the man plays in harming the community. Martin Tulk, 40, was convicted of possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking in February, along with possession of money obtained by the commission of an indictable offence and weapons offences, including having a prohibited weapon. "It is well accepted that trial judges are likely to be among the first to become aware of changes in the community served by the court," Justice Peter O'Flaherty wrote in his decision. "In addition to the alarming increase in cocaine deaths, I am satisfied that the impact of cocaine trafficking on the safety and security of St. John's, N.L., which was previously the envy of many urban communities in Canada, has also become a heightened and growing concern." The Crown had wanted a seven and a half year sentence, while Tulk's lawyer sought five and a half years. In his decision, O'Flaherty cited the significant amount of cocaine and cash involved, the high-level role Tulk played in the province's trafficking, his prior record, the lack of mitigating factors and the impact of Tulk's crime in the local community. "For whatever reason, or combination of reasons, cocaine has found very fertile ground in the community served by this Court," he wrote. "In the past couple of years there has been anecdotal information to support a significant increase in the number of deaths from cocaine overdoses." As part of an 11-month-long police investigation, in September 2021 police saw Tulk accept nine bricks of cocaine, weighing 10.14 kilograms, from a drug courier. He then gave the woman $388,965 in cash. They were both arrested. In his decision, O'Flaherty described Tulk as having a "sophisticated" operation and was "at the apex of the local cocaine trafficking operation." According to the evidence, O'Flaherty said Tulk didn't work but lived a "prosperous" lifestyle funded by drug trafficking. O'Flaherty said the courts are seeing more and more cases involving gun violence, random violent crime and homicide where cocaine was involved. Police also regularly use tactical units to arrest drug traffickers. "As the facts of this case show, local cocaine traffickers possess firearms, including prohibited handguns, as 'tools of the trade.' That is the unfortunate reality we face in 2025," he said. O'Flaherty also asked the Crown to gather information from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner on the number of accidental cocaine overdoses in the province. According to the chart, included in the decision, between 2021 to 2024 there were 101 cocaine related deaths. As a result, O'Flaherty argues cocaine "poses the greatest threat to the health, safety and security of the members of this community." Dr. Nash Denic, Newfoundland and Labrador's chief medical examiner, has been warning about the deadly effects of cocaine and the prevalence of drug use in younger people. CBC News has reported deaths from cocaine have spiked since 2014. O'Flaherty also said he believes Tulk has a high chance to reoffend in the future. Download our free CBC News app to sign up for push alerts for CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. Sign up for our daily headlines newsletter here. Click here to visit our landing page.
