Dataharvest 2026 - the European Investigative Journalism Conference

This panel will delve into the methods behind a months-long cross-border investigation that painstakingly revealed the industrialisation of the new “drop-off” method of cocaine trafficking in the Mediterranean.

What began with a single (but very dramatic) 2022 police operation involving two vessels near Sicily evolved into the reconstruction by the journalists of a transnational criminal system linking Latin American suppliers, Turkish traffickers, and European mafia. The journalists will explain how they moved from isolated events to identifying a coordinated fleet and uncovering the logistical role of key actors operating across jurisdictions.

The session will also focus on practical techniques: combining open-source maritime tracking data (AIS) with judicial records, seizure reports, and corporate registries to map connections between ships, companies, and individuals. Journalists will discuss how cross-referencing vessel movements with court documents and port data revealed patterns invisible to authorities at the time, as well as how interviews with prosecutors, law enforcement, and sources in multiple countries helped verify findings and fill gaps.

The panel will offer a step-by-step look at how to build a solid investigation that combines innovative data work with traditional reporting to expose complex criminal systems even before law enforcement fully connects the dots.