Belgian investigators have taken a beating since failing to disrupt the Brussels bombings last week. They took more than four months to locate Salah Abdeslam in the very neighborhood he grew up in. Belgian investigators also missed the network’s talented bomb maker, Najim Laachraoui, who escaped arrest on Friday only to resurface the following Tuesday…
Modern Crime: How a French-Israeli Grifter Became a Money Laundering Pioneer in China
Convicted con man Gilbert Chikli, sentenced in absentia to seven years in prison by a French court last year but living openly in Ashdod, is credited with masterminding a fraud that has cost companies $1.8 billion. To get away with it, he became the first of many to look east ASHDOD, Israel — Gilbert Chikli…
Military Weapons From The Past: The Burton Machine Rifle aka Winchester Model 1917
We don’t know much about Frank Burton’s Winchester-Burton Machine Rifle — a.k.a., the Winchester Model 1917. Little documentation of the rifle survives, but historians believe Burton meant it to be an anti-balloon weapon. During World War I, observation balloons helped armies on both sides of the conflict direct artillery fire and track enemy troop…
Cartel Corner #70: El Chapo’s Top Money Launderer, “King Midas” Has Been Caught
Mexican federal police and military units arrested Juan Manuel Álvarez Inzunza, aka “King Midas,” the alleged top money-launderer for the Sinaloa cartel of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, on Sunday in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca. Álvarez Inzunza, who was on vacation in Oaxaca when he was captured without violence, was arrested on a provisional extradition…
Prepper Communications: Go-Tenna, The Off-The-Grid Comm Tool
goTenna allows users to communicate with one another through their smartphones to talk, text, and find their friends on a map, all without cellular service or Wi-Fi. With so many app’s on the market offering “off grid communication,” it’s tough to find the one that’s perfect for hunters that want something more than a…
Examining Terrorist Tactics: Soft Targets of Terror
ISIS has “upgraded”the Al Qaeda playbook and determined that several teams of shooters and bombers or suicide bombers working together and attacking multiple SOFT targets simultaneously is much more effective than one big operation against a hard target. Tactically, attacking multiple targets in unison let’s the terrorist take advantage of the mass confusion and the…
Military Defense News: “Train and Equip” Program in Syria = Full Metal Retard, Part Deux
When you start reading this, you will begin shaking your head in disbelief. When you have finished reading this, you will be looking for a bottle of advil because your head will be pounding.-SF It would be difficult to find a program that better exemplifies the word “failure” than the Pentagon’s “train and equip” effort…
Modern Crime: Lima’s Fake Dollars
Peru is the number one producer of counterfeit US dollars in the world. In 2015, just over 16 million forged bills seized in the US were of Peruvian origin, according to the US Secret Service. Millions of counterfeit euros and Peruvian soles have also been seized by police in Peru. The forged dollars are finished…
Military Weapons From The Past: Swiss SK-46 Semi-Auto Rifle
The SK-46 was one of several post-WWII experimental self-loading rifle designs developed for testing by the Swiss military, or for commercial export. It was manufactured by SIG at Neuhausen in both 7.5mm Swiss and 8mm Mauser. The rifle is gas operated, with a rather complex tilting bolt action. It uses 5- or 6-round detachable box…
Cyber-Warfare Front: NSA Chief Makes ‘Secret’ Israel Trip to talk Iran, Hezbollah Cyber-Warfare
Admiral Rogers said to meet with IDF intelligence officials, including head of 8200 unit, during visit last week The director of the US National Security Agency, Admiral Michael Rogers, reportedly paid a secret visit to Israel last week to discuss cooperation in cyber-defense, in particular to counter attacks by Iran and its Lebanon-based proxy Hezbollah….