Connor Plunkett

Just over one week left to vote for your favourite design. All the concepts were created by Bellingcat community members. The winner will receive their choice of merchandise, and their design will be added to our upcoming store for a limited time: bellingcat.questionpro.eu/o/TakeSurvey...

In September, the AI company Anthropic claimed its models were approaching “superhuman capabilities for geolocating outdoor photos”. Bellingcat put that claim to the test by benchmarking the performance of Anthropic and other LLMs. Here’s what we found: www.bellingcat.com/resources/20...

Gardaí trying to track whereabouts of Christy Kinahan snr days after expiry of UAE visa

It is your last chance to enter your suggested designs and taglines for our audience co-created merchandise capsule! www.bellingcat.com/uncategorize... Pitch them here by the end of today: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

Viral reports this week suggested new Google satellite imagery showed unseen destruction in Gaza. But the imagery actually depicts the scene in February 2026. Bellingcat has obtained satellite images from September that show how the destruction has continued. www.bellingcat.com/news/middle-...

Our investigation into one of the capital's most notorious housing complexes. Originally billed as luxury flats which would rejuvenate the inner city, its real role was to launder money. It soon became one of Dublin's worst slums and a base for organised crime www.irishtimes.com/ireland/hous...

New for @josimarfootball.bsky.social: one of the PL's most visible betting in-stadium advertisers is 100% illegal 8Xbet. For four years, we have tried to ascertain who owned them. Now, thanks to @lilithwittmann.bsky.social's breach of Curacao's gambling database, we have an answer. Or do we?

You still have time to design Bellingcat's first official merch line. We are launching an Audience Co-Created Capsule alongside our core brand merchandise. You have two weeks to pitch your ideas before we take a shortlist to public vote. Find the details here: www.bellingcat.com/uncategorize...

When Alexander Clapp went to Sierra Leone to discover the story of Jos Leijdekkers, he was warned never to inquire directly about him. One source even indicated that the government would “arrange a car crash” for him, if it got wind of his investigation

Latest: Christy Kinahan, founder of the transnational organised crime group the Kinahan cartel, has had his UAE visa cancelled, Bellingcat and @thetimes.com can reveal. www.bellingcat.com/news/2026/09...

A joint Bellingcat and @jeuneafrique.com investigation has uncovered new details about drone strikes carried out by the Malian military that have hit civilian areas and reportedly resulted in the deaths of non-combatants. www.bellingcat.com/news/2026/09...

Reading this in print @jonronson.bsky.social has an amazing anecdote about how GQ’s photographer got this picture of Sean Duffy — and the photographer’s uhh less successful experience with Stephen Miller

After I finished The Castle, I went to the cage fight at the White House for GQ. I LOVE this story and here it is - just published - and (for now at least) no paywall! www.gq.com/story/ufc-at...

I spent more than a year reporting on this murder. I still have many questions about why he is still officially considered a John Doe, and why his killer was never prosecuted. Could the murderer have been protected? One note in the police file suggests he may have been a federal informant.

Skeletal remains were found in the woods of an affluent Boston suburb almost two years after the victim was killed. For three decades his name remained hidden. Bellingcat dug through public records for clues in the cold case. www.bellingcat.com/news/us-cana...

Big investigations, no endless scrolling. Sign up to our new newsletter to get Bellingcat’s latest investigations delivered straight to your inbox. bellingcat-investigations.beehiiv.com

BREAKING: An Irish government jet has been sent to Dubai to extradite Daniel Kinahan, one of the leaders of the Kinahan cartel. The aircraft took off from a military airbase near Dublin this morning. You can track the flight back to Ireland here: globe.adsbexchange.com?icao=4ca448&...

From @bellingcat.com: Sanctioned key leader of the Kinahan cartel Christopher Kinahan Jr, who is wanted by authorities around the world and has been living in hiding in Dubai for a decade, has just had his Emirates residence permit renewed. bit.ly/3TDdCWA

We're launching a new newsletter that will share Bellingcat's biggest stories/investigations to subscriber's inboxes as soon they are published. Sign up ⬇️!

Our latest 👀

The FIFA World Cup was predicted to be the biggest betting event in history. Bellingcat researcher @msramalho.bsky.social looked into the data on prediction markets Polymarket and Kalshi - and found that fans wagered more than US $14 billion through the two sites www.bellingcat.com/news/2026/07...

“The famine is over! The curse be damned!! Hit the nuclear button! Mayo have won the All-Ireland!!” An all-time great sports commentary moment from Stephen Grealis and Martin McHugh on Mayo’s Midwest Radio. #gaa

Our latest Bellingcat investigation reveals that #Shahed type drones, likely of #Russian origin, have now reached #Mali and are being used to strike civilian targets. www.bellingcat.com/news/2026/07...

Bellingcat is a global collective uncovering facts to hold power to account. We share everything, including our methods, because the truth belongs to everyone. Support our work by joining our membership program: www.bellingcat.com/donate/?utm_...

As fighting intensifies in Mali, Bellingcat has verified two recent strikes that used Shahed-136 type kamikaze drones. Video footage of the strikes provides the clearest open-source evidence to date of use of these drones in the conflict www.bellingcat.com/news/2026/07...

New publication from me! 🎉 Please check out my latest investigation where we identify (no surprise) a crypto guy to a popular 'leaked' nudes website. Users could even get paid out for sharing leaked/hacked nudes from women. Within 48 hrs of reaching out to him, the site went offline. Impact! 🙌

We're launching a funding drive on Bellingcat today. It's a tough funding environment at the moment with global funder cuts & the fear of Trump scaring off donors, so support us here www.bellingcat.com/donate/?utm_... A short video about what your donations will fund www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Vzb...

A promotional image for a padel club in Dubai shows a talented player, mid-swing and eyes locked on the ball. He’s also a key figure in the Kinahan cartel, the Irish organised crime group involved in drug trafficking, money laundering and arms smuggling. www.bellingcat.com/news/2026/06...

lan Dixon is a key figure in the Kinahan cartel, the Irish organised crime group worth $1.5 billion. He has been living in the shadows for the past decade - until we found him playing padel in Dubai. www.bellingcat.com/news/2026/06...

Brilliantly researched piece from @jonathanmoens.bsky.social!

I'll be speaking at #CIJSummer Investigative Journalism Conference on 25-26 June 2026 at Goldsmiths, University of London. See the full programme here: tcij.org/summer-confe...

An investigation by Bellingcat has identified yet another Russian-flagged bulk carrier, exporting grain from occupied Crimea to Libya. This adds Libya to the list of countries willing to accept what the Ukrainian government describes as “stolen” grain. www.bellingcat.com/news/2026/06...

Last night our @frontlinepbs.bsky.social documentary collaboration with @pbs.org , @washingtonpost.com and @evidentmedia.org covering Iran's nuclear programme won an Emmy for Outstanding Investigative Coverage: Long Form.

Footage analysed by Bellingcat and Jeune Afrique shows unexploded Russian-made cluster munition bomblets found in northern Mali - Despite Mali being a state party to the Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM) which prohibits their use. www.bellingcat.com/news/africa/...

Bellingcat and Cerosetenta have uncovered online links between the first South American branch of the far-right Active Club movement in Colombia and a mainstream political figure who ran in recent elections for the country's largest right-wing political party. www.bellingcat.com/news/2026/05...

An update on Daniel Kinahan, and Sean McGovern, for @newyorker.com . Trigger warning: contains a mention of Amor Towles "A Gentleman In Moscow" www.newyorker.com/news/the-led...

Last week we revealed Indian companies had shipped more than 320 million synthetic opioid pills to West Africa over the past three years – where the opioids had not been approved by regulators. Not read the investigation yet? You can find all of the data here: www.bellingcat.com/news/2026/04...

Researching China isn’t easy. With many foreign sites blocked, journalists depend on domestic platforms. Even under tight controls, Chinese apps are the main window into the country. Chu Yang’s latest guide explains how to research Xiaohongshu (Rednote). www.bellingcat.com/resources/20...

Breaking: Kinahan cartel leader Daniel Kinahan has been arrested in Dubai. It follows a Bellingcat investigation last month that traced him to an MMA event in Dubai - providing the first proof that the cartel's leadership was still in hiding in the UAE. www.bellingcat.com/news/2026/03...

It's finally happened www.rte.ie/news/2026/04...

India has exported more than 320 million unapproved synthetic opioid pills to West Africa in just three years. Trade data shows over 1,400 shipments of tapentadol — a potent painkiller — were sent to a region already facing an opioid crisis. www.bellingcat.com/news/2026/04...

Fifa's prediction market partner, ADI Predictstreet, has no working product yet, is unlicensed in almost all jurisdictions and is run by a man who last year paid a six-figure sum to settle an accusation of insider trading in India. By @uglygame.bsky.social josimarfootball.com/2026/04/06/i...

How did a computer science academic and reality TV show contestant from Zagreb end up representing illegal sports-betting operator Z6 when it signed an agreement with the Croatia national football team? By @philippeauclair.bsky.social and @bellingcat.com josimarfootball.com/2026/04/01/m...

New YouTube doc out today by the brilliant team at Search Party. A deep dive into the Kinahan cartel and our ongoing investigations with @johnmooneyirl.bsky.social into their global (and surprisingly digital) footprints.

Bellingcat and @thetimes.com revealed that two of the world’s most wanted men were visible at a live-streamed MMA event in Dubai. Now, Search Party digs into the Kinahan cartel and their US-sanctioned leaders. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kj0G...

Bellingcat and our partners at @evidentmedia.org and @calmatters.org have tracked US Border Patrol agents, analysing over 85 hours of footage taken across the country to try and unpack the circumstances around multiple use-of-force incidents. www.bellingcat.com/news/2026/03...

Records uncovered by Bellingcat & @thetimes.com link MMA fighter and Kinahan ‘friend’ Mounir Lazzez to multimillion shipping deals, orchestrated by companies in a secrecy jurisdiction, for oil tankers later sanctioned by the US for helping the Iranian regime. www.bellingcat.com/news/2026/03...

Mounir Lazzez, the ex-UFC fighter who is pictured talking to Daniel and Christy Kinahan at an event in Dubai last year, has business interests far beyond combat sports... Our follow-up to last week's investigation.

We want to uncover wrongdoing. We can with your support. Bellingcat is a not-for-profit. Consider donating so we can continue to create impact in 2026. www.bellingcat.com/donate