Police in the Balkans arrested 11 alleged members of a criminal syndicate responsible for smuggling cocaine from South America to Europe, Croatia said Wednesday, in the latest effort to crack down on traffickers. Among the people arrested was a suspect who is also wanted for his alleged membership in the notorious “Pink Panthers” jewel heist gang.

The arrests were carried out during raids Tuesday that saw police seize weapons, large amounts of ammunition along with luxury cars and cash, Croatia’s interior ministry said in a statement.

The so-called Balkans route is a vital transit network long used by criminals to smuggle drugs, weapons, and people into western Europe.

Eight suspects were arrested in Serbia, while two were taken into custody in Bosnia and another individual was apprehended in Croatia, the statement added.

“The cocaine dealers used different maritime routes… and are linked with the seizure of more than 500 kilogrammes (1,102 pounds) of cocaine… in 2021 at Croatia’s port of Ploce,” the statement said.

The drugs — worth a potential street value of 50 million euros ($53 million) — were hidden in a cargo container, and the ministry released several images showing packages of the cocaine.

“The seizure showed the international drug smuggling groups increasingly target smaller EU ports,” the ministry added.

One of the suspects arrested in Serbia was also wanted for his alleged membership in the Pink Panthers jewel heist gang — a notorious international criminal network that has drawn many of its members from the Balkans. As “60 Minutes” reported in 2014, the Pink Panthers have done jobs in dozens of countries, and many members fought in the Serbian special forces during the Bosnian wars.

In recent months, members of Balkan cartels and gangs have been linked to major cocaine trafficking operations.

In June, European police forces arrested about 40 people in a years-long operation to bust a major drug smuggling ring, leading to the seizure of eight tons of cocaine. Many members of the network were from countries in the Balkans, Europol said.

“Serious assessments are that the Balkan cartel is responsible for the supply of… more than half of cocaine” in Europe, a Croat police officer, Tomislav Stambuk, said at the time.

A month later, Spanish police announced the takedown of a major network transporting Latin American cocaine into Europe by boat in an international operation involving 50 arrests across eight countries.  The network included members of the so-called Balkan cartel who were “living the high life” in Spain’s southern Costa del Sol, police said.

Transgender students from kindergarten through college at Ohio public and private schools will be banned from using multiperson bathrooms that fit their gender identities under a measure that Republican Gov. Mike DeWine said Wednesday that he has signed.

DeWine signed the law over the objections of Democrats, teachers’ unions and civil rights groups, which had hoped that his objections to a ban on gender-affirming care for minors last year would carry through and prompt another veto. It takes effect in 90 days.

The governor issued no statement regarding the signing.

The Republican-backed measure — labeled the “Protect All Students Act” — requires public and private schools, colleges and universities to designate separate bathrooms, locker rooms and overnight accommodations “for the exclusive use” of either males and females, based on one’s gender assigned at or near birth, in school buildings and other facilities used for school-sponsored events. It contains no enforcement mechanism.

“It revolves around safety, security, and, I think, common sense. It protects our children and grandchildren in private spaces where they are most vulnerable,” said Republican Ohio state Sen. Jerry Cirino, the bill’s sponsor.

Aaron Baer, president of the Center for Christian Virtue, which backed the bill, said in a statement, “Common sense is on a winning streak in America today. No student should be forced to go into the bathroom or locker room with a student of the opposite sex, and Ohio’s kids are better protected now because of Governor DeWine’s decision to sign this bill.”

The ACLU of Ohio was among the groups that had lobbied for a veto, condemning the measure as a violation of the right of privacy of LGBTQ+ Ohioans that will make them less safe.

School employees, emergency situations and people assisting young children or someone with a disability are exempted from the restrictions and schools can still offer single-use or family bathrooms.

With DeWine’s signature, Ohio adds to the pushback that’s cropped up nationally among many Republican politicians, including President-elect Donald Trump, as transgender people have gained more visibility and acceptance on some fronts in recent years.

Twenty-six states have now adopted laws restarting or banning gender-affirming care for transgender minors. The U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments Dec. 4 on whether Tennessee’s ban on such treatments can continue to be enforced; any ruling is likely to impact policies in other states, too.

At least 11 states have adopted laws, like Ohio’s, barring transgender girls and women from girls and women’s bathrooms at public schools – and in some cases, in other government facilities.

And at least 24 states have laws dictating which sports competitions transgender girls and women can join.

Ohio’s bathroom bill was debated for 19 months before finally clearing the GOP-led Legislature on Nov. 13, during Transgender Awareness Week. It was tacked onto a separate piece of legislation by the Ohio House that related to the state’s College Credit Plus program, which allows high-schoolers to earn college credit.

Trump’s campaign leaned heavily into opposing transgender rights in the last weeks of his race against Vice President Kamala Harris, including Trump’s vow at a Madison Square Garden rally that “we will keep men out of women’s sports” and campaign ads saying, “Kamala’s for they/them. President Trump is for you.”

It’s not clear what policies Trump might adopt once he takes office in January. But bills relating to gender issues are already being queued up in state legislatures that come into session early in 2025.

In Texas, for instance, there are proposed measures to bar using state money to pay for “gender reassignment,” to use state money to pay to reverse gender transitions, and to give people who receive gender-affirming care before they turn 15 until they turn 25 to sue their doctors for malpractice, among others. Democrats in the Republican-dominated legislature there have also introduced some bills intended to protect people from discrimination on the basis of “gender identity or expression.”

In Ohio, a law that both bars gender-affirming care for minors and blocks transgender girls and women from participating in girls and women’s sports competitions took effect in August. It took a rocky path, though. The measure became law only after the legislature overrode DeWine’s veto. And after that, a judge put enforcement on hold for about four months before allowing it.

Inflation-weary Americans still plan to spend more than ever this holiday season.

Individual shoppers are projected to spend $641 on gifts and just over $900 in total, according to the National Retail Federation. Another survey conducted this month by Gallup forecasts the overall holiday spending tab at an even higher $1,012 per person. 

The most popular category for gifts? Clothing, according to the trade group, which commissioned a survey of 8,135 adults in early November, followed by gift cards, toys, books, video games, and food or candy. More than 183 million Americans are expected to shop during the Thanksgiving Day weekend, the NRF said.

Holiday spending is expected to hit record levels in November and December, growing between 2.5% and 3.5% from 2023 to upwards of $989 billion, the group forecast earlier in the month. 

From the start of November through November 24, holiday shoppers had already spent $77.4 billion, according to Adobe Analytics, which tracks spending data in real time. In good news for retailers during what is a key sales period, Adobe forecasts holiday revenue in 2024 to approach $241 billion, which would surpass last year’s figure of roughly $221 billion. 

Holiday spending on gift cards is expected to reach $28.6 billion, with the average shopper buying three to four gift cards and spending an average of $51.18 on each, the NRF estimated. 

Hot toys  

The NRF poll also asked people what kind children’s toys they planned to buy. Here are the top 10 for boys and girls:

Boys

• Legos 
• Hot Wheels
• Cars
• Video games
• PlayStation
• Remote controlled cars
• Video game consoles
• Nerf products
• Spider-Man
• Trucks

Girls 

• Barbie 
• Dolls
• Legos
• Makeup/beauty
• Disney items
• Baby dolls
• Barbie Dreamhouse
• Clothes
• Electronics 
• Squishmallows

Toys, video games and electronics will be key drivers of holiday spending, according to Adobe. Among other predictions, the company. expects Bluey Ultimate Lights & Sounds Playhouse to fly off virtual and physical shelves as a gift with strong appeal to the show’s fan base of 3- to 4-year-olds. Popular gifts this holiday season, Adobe found.

• Bluey toys
• Smartphones
• Bluetooth headphones
• MGA’s Miniverse items
• Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 video game

Not all fun and games

The holidays are also a time to consider safety in buying toys, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. 

“From online shopping to in-person gatherings, safety and protecting our children should be a top priority this holiday season,” CPSC Chair Alex Hoehn-Saric said in a statement. “By being mindful of product hazards, checking for recalls and purchasing from reputable sources, you can protect your loved ones and ensure a joyous and accident-free holiday for all.” 

In 2023, an estimated 154,700 children 12 years or younger were treated in emergency rooms due to toy-related injuries, and 10 kids died in toy-related incidents, the federal agency stated. 

Non-motorized scooters accounted for the largest share of injuries — 53,000 — in 2023, and were involved in more than one in every five toy-related injury for children under 15, CPSC found. 

Most toy-related deaths related to: 

• Choking on small balls or rayons
• Drownings linked to flotation toys
• Entrapment inside a toy chest
• Ingestion of water beads