Leaked police docs reveal crypto’s role in dark web bioweapons trade
Featuring TorchStone VP, Scott Stewart
A leaked INTERPOL manual covering the trade in chemical and biological weapons on the dark web includes advice for transacting in and seizing cryptocurrencies. The manual, titled ‘Investigating Biological and Chemical Terrorism on the Darknet,’ coaches law enforcement on best practices for infiltrating the dark web’s contrabandist subcultures. As well as advising investigators on how to transact in cryptocurrency, it also explains how to create an undercover identity, use the Tor browser and access dark web community forums such as Dread.
Analyst: Lopez Obrador trying to show drug cartels not in control of Mexico
Featuring TorchStone VP, Scott Stewart
EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) — Facing heat over increasingly bold acts of narco-violence, the president of Mexico is set to begin a tour of states being disputed by the drug cartels.
His first stop on Wednesday is Guanajuato state, where gunmen on July 1 murdered 27 recovering drug addicts in Irapuato. There, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador will talk with Gov. Diego Sinhue about crime and tour a gasoline refinery in Salamanca — where a criminal group last month abandoned an explosives-laden car after being spotted by the army.
Iranian Response to Attacks on its Nuclear Program
By TorchStone VP, Scott Stewart
A number of mysterious incidents have occurred in Iran over the past several weeks, among which were the June 25 explosion at a ballistic missile production facility in Khojir and the July 2 explosion in a factory at Iran’s main nuclear production facility in Natanz that was reportedly producing a new generation of centrifuges. Due to the opaque nature of Iran, it is difficult to get a clear idea of exactly what is happening and whether these fires and explosions are linked. We don’t know for certain if these incidents are attacks or merely industrial accidents that outside forces are trying to claim as attacks to cause internal problems for Iran.
Asia Times: Tokyo 2020 seeks to survive the Olympic curse
By TorchStone Asia Specialist, Howard Snyder
“It’s a problem that’s happened every 40 years – it’s the cursed Olympics,” Japan’s Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso remarked before a parliamentary committee last March. Aso had a point. The 1940 Summer and Winter Olympics, scheduled to be held in Tokyo and Sapporo, respectively, were canceled due to World War II. Forty years later, the United States and 64 other countries boycotted the 1980 Moscow Summer Games to protest the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Now, as we approach the one-year countdown to the postponed and rescheduled Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics, how will the “40 year curse” affect Tokyo 2020 and beyond?
The Hunt: Air Force Sergeant charged with targeted killing of federal officer
Featuring TorchStone VP, Scott Stewart
An Air Force sergeant who is already in jail for the killing of a California sheriff’s deputy was charged this week with murdering a federal security officer in Oakland. In this week’s edition of The Hunt with WTOP National Security Correspondent J.J. Green: Scott Stewart, VP at Torchstone Global, discusses the situation, which may be a case of domestic terrorism.
Asia Times: Understanding and navigating Hong Kong’s security law
By TorchStone Asia Specialist, Howard Snyder
At the end of May 2020, China’s National People’s Congress (NPC) approved a draft of a new national security law that aims to ban and punish sedition, secession, terrorism, foreign intervention and other activity posing dangers to national security in Hong Kong. The NPC is expected to draft a final version of the law and will enact it by including it in the Hong Kong Basic Law within the next few months.
The Hunt: FBI mistakenly reveals name of Saudi diplomat linked to 9/11 hijackers
Featuring TorchStone VP, Scott Stewart
In a court filing, the FBI inadvertently revealed the name of a Saudi diplomat suspected of helping the 911 hijackers. But in this week’s edition of The Hunt with WTOP national security correspondent J.J. Green, Scott Stewart, tactical intelligence expert and V.P. at TorchStone Global, says the revelation won’t likely lead to an arrest.
Fugitive ‘Chapo’ hitman allegedly murdered in suspected Sinaloa cartel double-cross
Featuring TorchStone VP, Scott Stewart
EL PASO, Texas — Ten days after escaping supervised release in San Diego, a convicted Sinaloa cartel enforcer and two family members have been murdered in Culiacan, Mexican newspapers report. The body of Jose Rodrigo Arechiga Gamboa, a.k.a. “El Chino Ántrax,” was among three found Saturday inside a BMW X-5 sports utility vehicle registered to his sister, El Sol de Culiacan reported. The vehicle was abandoned on a dirt road just east of the city. The other two victims were his sister, Ada Jimena, and his brother-in-law Juan Guillermo Garcia, El Sol reported.
The Hunt: Americans captured in Venezuela in alleged coup
Featuring TorchStone VP, Scott Stewart
Two U.S. citizens were among a group Venezuelan authorities say were 13 terrorists captured in connection with an alleged failed plot to topple the government. On this week’s edition of The Hunt with WTOP National Security Correspondent J.J. Green, Scott Stewart, a vice president at the security firm TorchStone Global, explains what happened.
A Resilience Framework for Businesses to Recover from a Pandemic Outbreak
By TorchStone Consultant, Joshua Sinai, PhD
Everyone is hugely concerned about quickly recovering from the current COVID-19 pandemic, which is disrupting and degrading every aspect of life globally. This is particularly the case with major corporations whose employees, business operations, facilities, partners, and customers are being severely impacted by the pandemic.
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