- The Costa-Rica Ministry of Public Security for surveillance against organised crime and illegal fishing will use a King Air 250 as a mobile radar to battle drug trafficking as well as to protect the marine life.
- Mexican police arrested Victor Manuel Perez, alias “Pantera 16” (Panther 16) or “Comandante Viento” (Commander Wind), regional leader of the criminal group Gulf Cartel, without incident in the Pacific coast resort of Puerto Vallarta in western Mexico.
- As a result of raids carried by UK’s West Mercia Police four warrants were executed in Redditch, north-east Worcestershire, where a methamphetamine laboratory was discovered along with a quantity of illegal drugs. Officers from Europol supported the West Mercia Police with a Mobile Office on the spot and undertook real-time cross-checks of data collected during the investigation against Europol’s databases.
- is increasingly being used as a recreational drug across Central Africa. The illegal trade and non-medical use of this synthetic opioid poses risks for health and security. Health practitioners are faced with the dilemma of restricting its availability to curb abuse.
- Kenya plans to partner with the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) to develop mechanisms that will focus on prevention and treatment programs for drug victims. According to the Chairman of state-owned National Authority for the Campaign Against Alcohol and Drug Abuse (NACADA), rapid urbanisation has led to a breakdown of the social fabric which has led to increased uptake of illicit drugs in the country, especially among the youth.
