In April 2024, the Metropolitan Museum of Art (Met) took two actions with respect to recovering and returning stolen and embezzled cultural items to their rightful owners.  On April 16, 2024, the Met announced that it had repatriated a third millennium BCE Sumerian sculpture to the Republic of Iraq.[1]

        On April 22, 204, Europol led a large-scale raid in Bosnia and Herzegovina on the homes and offices of 23 persons suspected as participants of the “inner circle” of a drug kingpin’s organization.  The raid arose from the arrest of a drug kingpin in November 2022.  Europol hailed the take down of the so-called “super cartel,” which was an alliance of criminal networks that controlled much of Europe’s cocaine trade. Participating in the search of over 40 locations were law enforcement officials from several countries, including the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

        On April 17, 2024, the Peel Regional Police in Canada announced that the U.S. and Canada have arrested nine persons in connection with a theft on April 17, 2023 of a cargo on a flight landing at Pearson International Airport from Zurich, Switzerland.  The cargo contained 6660 bars of .9999% pure gold, weighing 400 kilograms, valued at over $20 million and CAD 2.5 million worth of foreign currency. 

        On April 15, 2024, a directive issued by the Council of the European Union set forth a new policy for member states on unexplained wealth, including conditions for freezing and confiscating assets.[1]  The directive, which cleared both legislative bodies of the E.U. and awaits final signature and formal publication in the Official Journal of the European Union, builds on a 2022 proposal by the European Commission advocating for improved systems for asset tracing, greater power to freeze assets, and an overhauled framework governing confiscation.

        On April 10, 2024, Russian billionaires Petr Aven and Mikhail Fridman won their appeal in the European General Court to have their inclusion on the European Union (EU) sanctions list declared void.  The decision has provoked concern from many in the West, as the men are among the richest under Western sanctions at present and their relationship with Vladimir Putin is well-publicized. Some fear this case could prove to be seminal.

        On April 10, 2024, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) unsealed a superseding indictment charging David Campbell, also known as Viejo Dan and Don David, 57, of Honduras, one of the main narcotics and weapons suppliers to MS-13 in Honduras, with racketeering, narcotics, and firearms. Campbell’s initial hearing occurred before U.S. Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn in the U.S. District Court in the Southern District of New York, the day after his extradition.

        On April 11, 2024 Mexico filed an Application instituting proceedings against Ecuador before the International Court of Justice (ICJ or Court) with regard to a dispute relating to “legal questions concerning the settlement of international disputes by peaceful means and diplomatic relations, and the inviolability of a diplomatic mission." In its Application, Mexico states that, on  April 5, 2024, “[a]round 15 special operations agents” from Ecuador entered the Mexican Embassy in Quito “by forcible means and without authorization.”

        On April 10, 2024, German police arrested two Iraqis suspected of serving as “Islamic State” members for allegedly enslaving two Yazidi girls between 2015 and 2017.  German police arrested both individuals in Bavaria.

        On March 22, 2024, law enforcement officials from Mozambique’s Criminal Investigation Service (SERNIC) and the Tax Authority seized a container at Maputo port that was going to Dubai and contained 651 pieces of elephant ivory hidden in a shipment of bags of corn. Officials at a leading environmental non-governmental organization are trying to motivate Mozambique and Angola to take stronger steps to prosecute ivory trafficking.

        On April 8 and 9, 2024, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) held public hearings on the Request for the indication of provisional measures submitted by Nicaragua in the case concerning Alleged Breaches of Certain International Obligations in respect of the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Nicaragua v. Germany).