Cross-border crime & mining: INTERPOL warned at the 27th Americas Regional Conference in Georgetown that criminal syndicates are increasingly moving cocaine profits into illegal gold mining, using the same routes for drugs, people, firearms and wildlife; it cited Operation Guyana Shield, involving Guyana, Brazil, French Guiana and Suriname, with 24,500+ checks and 198 arrests. Faster intelligence sharing: Prime Minister Mark Phillips stressed that delays in passing intelligence across borders can give offenders the advantage, pointing to coordinated regional action against illegal gold mining. Regional crackdown results: Operation ATLAS NEXUS wrapped up with 490+ arrests and 156.9 tonnes of drugs seized, alongside firearms, ammunition, gold and wildlife, with Guyana and other Caribbean states participating. Space from French Guiana: ESA’s Sentinel-3C and FLEX missions launched from the European Spaceport in French Guiana, boosting climate monitoring; ESA also highlighted the need for Europe to secure autonomous access to space. Digital infrastructure in Cayenne: EllaLink laid branching units for future Brazilian cable links from Cayenne, supporting scalable connectivity between Latin America and Europe. Telecom leadership: CTU ICT Week in French Guiana saw St. Kitts and Nevis’ Konris Maynard elected CTU President, with ministers pushing regional coordination on AI and digital policy.