CRIMJUST, the West African Network of Central Authorities and Prosecutors (WACAP) and the UNODC Project “Response to Drugs and Related Organized Crime in Nigeria” delivered a three-day joint workshop in Lagos, Nigeria, on 16-18 July 2018. Thirty participants from Ghanaian, Liberian and Nigerian criminal justice agencies discussed good practices to increase the efficiency of investigations…
Between March and May 2018, INTERPOL coordinated operations in 36 countries across Africa, Asia, the Middle East and South America, with the aim of shutting down factories and cutting off supply chains behind a wide range of counterfeit goods and the organised crime networks directing them. The operations yielded global seizures worth USD 25 million.…
Under the framework of the projects CRIMJUST and “Response to Drugs and Related Organized Crime in Nigeria”, UNODC conducted, on 12 July 2018, the first replication workshop on “Drug identification with handheld electronic field testing devices” in Lagos, Nigeria. It was the first training in West Africa to introduce the use of the testing devices,…
The United Kingdom Border Force Unit has handed over two operational vans and equipment valued at $120,000 Dollars to the Narcotic Control Board (NACOB) to boost Ghana’s fight against drug trafficking. Mozambique has become a significant heroin transit centre. Estimations suggest 40 tonnes or more per year are traded from Mozambique, making it a major…
Left-wing candidate Andrés Manuel López Obrador has claimed victory in Mexico’s presidential election, held on 1 July. One of his main policies is combating Mexico’s record levels of violence, much of it related to drug cartels. Epidiolex, a cannabis-based treatment for childhood epilepsy developed, is set to be launched in the autumn after being approved…
The Joint Airport Interdiction Task Force (JAITF) at Niamey Diori Hamani International Airport in Niger was established in 2014 as part of AIRCOP. Since then, it has seized more than 8 kg of cocaine, 3 kg of methamphetamine, 120 kg of gold, 2 kg of ammunition, 114 stolen or fraudulent identification documents and more than…
On 8 June 2018, the future Joint Airport Interdiction Task Force (JAITF) at Maputo International Airport (Mozambique) concluded its initial training provided by Brazilian Federal Police and UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime) experts. The training was the first step towards the establishment of the JAITF. Additional training and mentoring activities will be…
This year the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has several opportunities to revisit, rethink and reinvigorate the fight against organised crime in the region. The organisation is poised to significantly boost its role as a regional framework for policy development and action on serious issues, among which various forms of illicit trafficking, including…
After the signature, at the end of August, of the Letter of Agreement between UNODC and the State of Nigeria represented by National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) for the implementation of the AIRCOP’s Joint Airport Interdiction Task Forces (JAITF) of Abuja, the initial training of the future task-force has been delivered between 25 September and 6 October.
CRIMJUST took part at the 27th Meeting of Heads of National Drug Law Enforcement Agencies, Africa (HONLEAF)
