Supported projects

ERBIL - What is the involvement of Belgian jihadists in the genocide that IS carried out against the Jezidi community? Now that the Belgian parliament has acknowledged the genocide, Brenda Stoter Boscolo and Bruno Struys went to Iraqi Kurdistan with that question in mind. They talked to official ...

NAIROBI / MOGADISHU - Khat, also known as Miraa, is being smuggled openly in the coastal town of Lamu in Kenya. This has been exacerbated by the ban on Miraa exports to Somalia in 2020, following a diplomatic dispute between the two countries. 

BUJUMBURA - After sixty years, Ludo De Witte opens up about a murder that set Burundi on the road to internal division, ethnic tension and mass killings.

CALABRIA - This two-part series, based on two years of research by reporters from IrpiMedia and OCCRP, explores how the 'Ndrangheta's network operates.

YAMOUSSOUKRO - The money that European nightlife spends for its favorite drug finances Hezbollah's wars on the side of Iran. An insider from the Lebanese community in Ivory Coast, one of the new cocaine hubs in West Africa, speaks and paints a chilling picture that spans half the globe, from the ...

BRUSSELS - In 2013, the Belgian television programme Panorama delved into the world of urban black gangs. The members spoke openly about life and survival on the streets of Brussels. Now, eight years later, they look back on their tough youth. Did they succeed in choosing the right path? Does the ...

ROTTERDAM - In the fight against drugs crime in their ports, the mayors of Rotterdam (Aboutaleb) and Antwerp (De Wever), kicked off in 2019 a more intensive collaboration between their ports. The big meeting took place behind closed doors at the Feyenoord Stadium.

MEXICO CITY - La Civil tells the story of Cielo, a mother in search of her daughter, abducted by a criminal cartel in Northern Mexico. As the authorities fail to offer support in the search, Cielo takes matters into her own hands and turns from housewife into avenging activist. The story was ...

BRUSSELS - “When discussing drug production, we rarely look at the environmental damage and costs. Belgium, together with The Netherlands, is the main producer of synthetic drugs in Europe, and the chemical waste deriving as a by-product from the production here remains.

ANTWERPEN - Antwerp is being undermined. The port of Antwerp is the biggest cocaine import port in Europe. The drug crime creates invisible criminality that affects life in the city.

BELGRADE - In this project a cross-border team of journalists sheds a light on how societies in former Yugoslavia deal with the past, by focusing on how war criminals are reintegrated in their home countries: a closer look at the results of international criminal justice.

More than 70% of the members of criminal groups detained and convicted are foreigners themselves. That is, citizens of other countries who have residence permits in Ukraine. Foreign students or seasonal workers are involved in transporting their compatriots to the European Union. 

DODOMA - Almost $176m that belonged to the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) at Barclays Bank disappeared mysteriously and landed on a Tanzanian national. The funds for putting up 1,000 school structures to accommodate 45,000 poor students in Africa, ended up in a group of people in Tanzania ...

ANTWERP - The port of Antwerp is considered to be the most important port for coca imports in Europe. Every year, tons of cocaine come here hidden on board container ships. The value of the smuggled cocaine is estimated to have a street value of tens of billions of kronor. 

ABUJA / BERLIN - In the 1970s, Nigerian students founded a fraternity to combat oppression and racism. Today, however, their name is associated with criminal activities worldwide. What happened?

ABIDJAN - In this story, investigative journalists Daan Bauwens and Nicholas Ibekwe focus on Highway 10, the transatlantic route that for centuries brought millions of captured African slaves to South-America via the tenth parallel.

CAPE TOWN - Although cyberspace is not the main platform for the illegal wildlife trade, it provides an anonymous and versatile marketplace in which to buy and sell. It is safe to say that the internet plays a role at some point in an increasing number of wildlife trafficking incidents.

WINDHOEK - The single greatest obstacle that law enforcement officials have in combatting wildlife crime and related smuggling is the lack of a money trail that can be used as evidence in court to secure convictions against the key organisers of such transactions.

BERLIN - "They described men arriving in Berlin with briefcases full of cash, wanting to buy land, buildings, restaurants". Bernd Finger, former chief investigator of the BKA in Berlin told us regarding statements he received from the Treuhandgesellschaft (the DDR trust company), during the nineties ...

BRUSSELS - Dog has been man's best friend for ages. While he used to work for his owner in the old days, he is spoiled by the whole family today. The changed status, fashion trends and online sales platforms ensure the demand for cute puppies continues to rise. For example, the European dog trade ...

NEW YORK -  Banks and vulture funds make money from ordinary people’s distress. The only way to fight back is to outsmart them. Wall Street giants—the so-called ‘vulture funds’—have been on a house-buying spree across Europe and the United States since the 2008 financial crash.

Consequences of the EU's Attempt to Neutralise People Smugglers

TRIPOLI - The central Mediterranean is now the busiest corridor for irregular migration to the European Union. All previous efforts to combat the flows have led to more crossings and more deaths at sea.

NICOSIA - Thousands of refugees from Africa and the Middle East risk their lives to reach the shores of Europe and escape conflict and repression.  But for the wealthy there are easier options available. With enough money, it's possible to purchase a EU passport - or at least residence. 

VALLETTA - How Russian billionaire and gashion TV investor paid near-zero tax on small loans operations in Europe and the US.

LONDON - Massimo Carminati, boss of an alleged mafia group in Rome, is said to have made millions of euros before his arrest in December 2014. But this financial treasure is nowhere to be found.

BUCHAREST - The migration of criminality between European countries is a major source of social and political tension on the continent. Though dominant in the news, this phenomenon is barely covered in reports released by national and European institutions, creating an information gap that furthers ...

CATANZARO - The Calabrian mafia ‘Ndrangheta's primary source of money is cocaine. How do they traffic the drug from South America to Europe and Africa leaving virtually no trace?

DAKAR - Mafia in Africa 2 exposes the fraudulent business empire of Italian criminal Curio Pintus, who was sentenced to three years in jail in 2001 for laundering drug money for the 'ndrangheta, but remains active as CEO of US “merchant bank”, the Pintus Group.

PALERMO - An investigation into the contemporary Italian mafia in Europe. Or how the mafia made its way to the Low Countries.

MAPUTO - How much of the $850 million budget allocated to Mozambique's public-private company Ematum to buy a fishing fleet was actually spent on military hardware?