In its 2019 report on cybercrime, Europol highlights that cybercriminals are becoming bolder and more innovative to circumvent law enforcement and maximize profits. One new prominent practice is crypto ransomware, targeting private organisations using phishing emails. Europol identifies crypto ransomware as the top priority threat facing European Law enforcement officials. The British government invests in…
Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez faces street protests calling for his ouster after a US court found his brother guilty of cocaine and weapons trafficking. The US Justice Department also concluded narcotraffickers had bribed the president and his party for his 2014 election campaign. The Financial Action Task Force, the intergovernmental body dedicated to combatting…
Drug trafficking in Central America is damaging the Amazon forest. Traffickers are cutting down trees to build illegal roads and airstrips to transport cocaine. Narco-deforestation now affects large tropical forests in Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. Protected wetlands and coastal areas are also used to supply maritime routes. Environmental degradation caused by drug trafficking leads to…
From 7 to 11 October, AIRCOP attended the 29th Meeting of Heads of National Drug Law Enforcement Agencies from Latin America and the Caribbean (HONLAC) in Lima, Peru. HONLAC is a subsidiary body of the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND), one of the governing bodies of the United Nations Office on Drugs and…
From October to November 2019, the SEACOP project will organise three training sessions in Dakar for customs officers, police officers and gendarmes assigned to the JMCUs (Joint Maritime Control Units) based in Cotonou (Benin), Lomé (Togo) and Dakar (Senegal). The trainings will strengthen the JMCUs capacity to fight transnational organised crime and the illicit trafficking…
The poaching and smuggling of marine life are increasingly treated as organised crime in South Africa. Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing have traditionally been dealt with as fisheries management issues by the government, resulting in low penalties for offenders. But regional initiatives like FishFORCE, training law enforcement officers and prosecutors, have resulted in greater awareness…
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Iranian police have seized nine tonnes of illicit drugs destined for Europe in the province of West Azerbaijan, on the border with Turkey. The shipment, which was hidden inside a petrol tanker, comprised of 3.5 tonnes of morphine and 5.3 tonnes of opium. Weapons as well as cocaine and crystal meth were also found. Iran…
