News briefing – Week of 27 March

Colombian police seized more than 6 tons of cocaine in the Caribbean port of Barranquilla bound for Spain. Colombian Defence Minister Luis Carlos Villegas confirmed that the shipment, worth €200 million, was carried out by several drug cartels, including El Clan del Golfo. The seizure represents the third largest cocaine seizure in the history of…

CRIMJUST first Steering and Coordination Committee took place in Vienna

On 13 December 2016, the first Steering and Coordination Committee meeting for the implementation of CRIMJUST was held at the UNODC Headquarters in Vienna, Austria. Representatives from the European Commission, SEACOP, AIRCOP and CORMS projects as well as INTERPOL, UNODC thematic experts and Transparency International attended the event. The principal objectives of the Steering Committee…

News briefings – Week of 9 January

During the final congressional session of 2016, the government of Argentina submitted plans in order to modify the country’s anti-narcotics law. The reform – if approved – would increase penalties for the production, trafficking and supply of paco, the smokeable paste at intermediary stage in processing cocaine. The post-conflict minister of Colombia acknowledged that coca…

Barbados signs Memorandum of Understanding on the implementation of SEACOP

On 13 December, Barbados signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the implementation of the Seaport Cooperation project (SEACOP). The Ambassador of the European Union attended the event. Barbados joining SEACOP highlights the extension of the project into a number of countries in the Caribbean region, thus emphasizing the need to adapt to new trends…

News briefing – Week of 5 December

The Crime Rate Index for 2016 listed Mexico as the third most dangerous country in the world due to the violence created by drug-related organized crime, with the country ranked higher than countries currently at war. Ecuadorean Police seized around 10 metric tons of cocaine at Guayaquil port, which could mean the country may become…