32 Wednesday June 8 2022 | the times
Wo r l d
Italians stage Europe’s
largest ever drug bust
Italy Italian agents yesterday
confiscated 4.3 tonnes of cocaine
with a street value of nearly a
quarter of a billion euros in the
port city of Trieste, dealing a blow
to Colombia’s feared Gulf Clan in
one of the largest drug busts in
Europe. Arrest warrants were
executed for 38 people on
suspicion of international drug
trafficking in Italy, Slovenia,
Croatia, Bulgaria, the
Netherlands and Colombia. The
authorities in Italy estimate that
criminal groups paid €96 million
for the cocaine, which would have
been worth €240 million on the
streets. Agents also seized
€1.8 million in cash and vehicles
allegedly used for trafficking. (AP)Swedish leader saved
by eleventh-hour deal
Sweden The justice minister,
Morgan Johansson, survived a
confidence vote called by the
right-wing Sweden Democrats,
who accuse him of failing to curb
gang violence. Magdalena
Andersson, the country’s first
woman prime minister, said she
would step down in the event of a
defeat but a last-minute deal was
struck to secure a crucial vote
from an independent MP. (AFP)The end is in sight
for cable conundrum
Belgium After years of industry
resistance EU officials have
finally agreed new rules requiring
a universal USB Type-C charger
for all small and medium portable
electronic devices. The aim is to
make gadgets more sustainable
and reduce the 11,000 tonnes of
waste generated every year. Most
manufacturers will have to
comply from 2024 but laptop
makers will have extra time. (AP)Belgian king in DRC for
‘visit of reconciliation’
Belgium King Philippe began a
six-day visit yesterday to the
Democratic Republic of Congo,
which his ancestor once ruled
brutally. The trip has been billed
as a chance for reconciliation
after atrocities under the rule of
Leopold II from 1885 to 1908.
Two years ago Philippe expressed
his “regrets for the wounds of the
past” to President Tshisekedi of
the DRC. (AFP)Theme park’s free deal
for miniskirt wearers
Ta i w a n A popular theme park is
offering half-price entry to
anyone in a school uniform and a
free photo if it includes a short
skirt. Critics say that the deal at
Leofoo Village in Guanxi
objectifies women and fear that
girls will be harassed. The
gimmick, however, attracted large
numbers during the dragon-boat
holiday, including men in skirts
eager to be photographed.Eighteen accused in
horsemeat scandal
France Eighteen people have
gone on trial in Marseilles
accused of running a Europe-
wide horsemeat-trading network
involving produce not cleared for
human consumption. They are
charged with breaking EU rules,
forging documents and tricking
owners into believing their horses
would live out their days in the
countryside when in fact they
were taken for slaughter. (AFP)The alleged masterminds of a colossal
corruption scheme in South Africa that
toppled a president, crippled state
structures and almost collapsed the
economy are in jail in Dubai and
preparing for an extradition battle.
Lawyers for Atul and Rajesh Gupta,
who, according to a judicial inquiry,
directed wide-scale plundering during
the presidency of Jacob Zuma, have
arrived in the emirate to argue for bail.
The arrests of the Indian brothers,
which were announced on Monday, is a
breakthrough for Pretoria in tackling
the biggest scandal of the post-apart-
heid era, known as “state capture”.
Bringing the businessmen back to face
justice is likely to be difficult, prosecu-
tors, say, despite a new extradition
treaty between South Africa and the
UAE.
“Extradition is a complex process in-
volving many role players, including
the executive,” said Mthunzi Mhaga
from the national prosecuting author-
US fighter jets threaten Kim against nuclear launch
MAURICE ASHTON/CATERS NEWSThe United States and its allies flew
fighter jets off the Korean peninsula in
a display of strength aimed at deterring
North Korea from carrying out a new
nuclear test.
Twenty South Korean and US
planes, including F-35A stealth
fighters, flew above the Yellow Sea west
of South Korea as the International
Atomic Energy Agency warned of signs
that the North had reopened its nuclear
test site.
The manoeuvres followed a joint
South Korean-US missile launch on
Monday and naval exercises.
“South Korea and the US demon-
strated their strong capability to rapidly
and accurately strike in the event of any
North Korean provocations, as well as
their will to do so,” Seoul’s joint chiefs of
staff said.
Wendy Sherman, the US deputy sec-
retary of state, warned of stern conse-quences if the North carried out a test,
which would be the first since 2017.
“There would be a swift and forceful re-
sponse,” she said.
Rafael Grossi, director-general of the
International Atomic Energy Agency,
added his voice to those warning of a
likely test. “At the nuclear test site at
Punggye-ri we have observed indica-
tions that one of the [entrances] has
been reopened, possibly in preparation
for a nuclear test,” he said.
In May 2018 North Korea invited for-eign camera crews to film the destruc-
tion of tunnel entrances and buildings
at the Punggye-ri site, where six nu-
clear tests were carried out between
2006 and 2017. It was a symbolic mo-
ment in the pivot to diplomacy made
that year by Kim Jong-un. However,
the extent to which the site was dis-
abled was never independently veri-
fied. In 2020 UN experts suggested
that only its entrances had been de-
stroyed and that it could be restored in
months.South Korea
Richard Lloyd Parry, Asia Editor
Brothers linked to ‘state capture’
scandal fight to evade extradition
South Africa
Jane Flanagan Cape Town
ity, which has assigned local and inter-
national experts to work on the case. A
long judicial inquiry put the brothers,
who were born into poverty in north-
ern India, at the heart of systematic
ransacking alongside Zuma, who
“opened the doors” to state coffers.
The scheme is estimated to have cost
South Africa 1.5 trillion rand (£78 bil-
lion) in stolen funds and lost GDP. Yet
the fraud and money-laundering char-
ges on which the Guptas were arrested
relate to a shady government contract
worth only £1.6 million, which may
count in their favour when it comes to
bail and extradition, analysts said.
The businessmen and a third brother,
Ajay, who has not been arrested, have
been living in Dubai in since 2018 when
Zuma was forced out as leader of the
governing African National Congress.
Their $30 million residence in the
Emirates Hills area has ten bedrooms,
13 bathrooms, nine reception rooms, a
double grand staircase and a hand-
painted dome, according to an investi-
gation by City Press, a South African
newspaper. The Guptas have consist-ently denied wrongdoing. The timing of
the arrests by Dubai police could not be
more fortuitous for President Rama-
phosa, 69, who is embroiled in a scandal
of his own that has battered his reputa-
tion as an unsoiled leader of a dirty
party. Ramaphosa, one of SouthAfrica’s richest men, is facing a criminal
charge for failing to report the theft in
2020 of $4 million in foreign currency,
which was hidden at his rural property.
“The ones who are pursuing the
corrupt also have skeletons in the
cupboards,” Sandile Swana, a political
analyst, said. The quick success of thecomplaint made to police about Rama-
phosa last week by his former spy chief,
Arthur Fraser, who is implicated in the
Guptas’ plot, and the brothers’ arrests
days later has intrigued political
observers.
Both developments will further
expose the power struggle in the ANC
between the factions aligned to the in-
cumbent and former presidents.
Fraser’s case against Ramaphosa, 69, is
seen as an effort to derail his campaign
to be re-elected party leader.
The case is also regarded as a key test
of Dubai, which has long welcomed the
wealthy with little scrutiny of their
funds. However, with the UAE leading
Interpol, it has faced questioning about
its lax checks on money laundering and
reluctance to extradite suspects.
The Guptas’ rise to become South
Africa’s most influential residents, free
to dictate the hirings and firings of
Zuma’s ministers and given first refusal
on government contracts, began in the
early 1990s. By the time Zuma fell, they
had built an empire that covered min-
ing, computer technology and media.Rajesh and Atul Gupta are charged
with fraud and money launderingRay of flight The rare sight of a ray leaping out of the water was caught by an amateur photographer in New South Wales. The jumps normally last less than a second