Kentucky senator proposes tougher US cocaine-sentencing laws UK government survey shows significant increase in domestic drug use over 10-year period •A Puerto Rico-based cocaine trafficking ring faced drug charges in the US • Bulgaria’s State Agency for National Security announced the dismantlement of a major heroin-trafficking group • In Los Angeles, a smuggler was sentenced…
Following elections in April and May this year, there are expectations that Guinea Bissau may shift away from its reputation as a narco state. The new president, Jose Mario Vaz, is a former finance minister with a reputation for tough economic reforms. The elections have been viewed as an entry point for renewed engagement by…
• The Prominent Colombian drug lord Hernán Alonso “El Ratón” Villa was arrested in Spain following a joint Colombian-Spanish operation •The US courier firm FedEx faced with fifteen counts of drug-trafficking following an indictment by the California federal grand jury • The reputed head of a drug-trafficking ring was arrested in the UAE • A…
Today the EU has adopted an action programme that will provide up to €750 million during the period 2014-2016 to support peace and security in Africa. The new funding had been announced by the President of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, at the Africa- EU summit in April and will be channelled through the African Peace Facility…
Many groups engage in illicit activities to fund their activities. In many civil wars, illicit trafficking has been essential to get food, fuel and other supplies to civilians and provide arms to combatants. The wars in Liberia and Sierra Leone were rife with diamond and timber smuggling, and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia (FARC)…
The Research Consortium on Drugs and the Law published a study that assesses state responses to illicitly-used drugs in eight countries in Latin America. Panamanian border control is concerned that the country is become a trafficking route for Colombian cocaine The Netherlands is reporting a rise in cocaine entering its ports. A lawyer and fraud…
Faure Essozimna Gnassingbé, the president of Togo has responded positively to the publication of the West Africa Commission on Drugs. Noting that West Africa was no longer merely a transit zone for drugs from Latin America en route to European markets, but also a buoyant drug market, he reiterated that those involved in distribution had…
Reports that Dominican Republic bears the brunt of trafficking through the Caribbean More discussion on the need to legalise the drugs trade – this time focused on heroin and Afghanistan by the British Ambassador InsightCrime analyses what the arrest of Tijuana cartel leader, Fernando Sanchez Arellano, means for the drug empire With many cartel leaders…
The Uruguay government is proceeding a radical attempt to tackle organized crime. It has legalized the cultivation and trade of cannabis, removing the most attractive, profitable and risk free opportunities from the control of criminal groups. In order to regulate production, cannabis cultivators will have to apply for a plot to farm the plant in…
The Maritime Analysis and Operations Centre – Narcotics (MAOC-N) has been tracking an organised crime group that owns a number of ships that have been linked to the transport of narcotics. The operation began with the seizure of 15 tons of cannabis on the ‘Adam’ by Italian customs in April 2013. The crew of six…
