News briefing – Week of 10 April

German police seized more than 800 pounds of cocaine (380 kilograms) in Cologne, dissimulated in cases of bananas shipped from Ecuador. The haul represents the biggest seizure in the history of the city. 26 employees of American Airlines, Southwest Airlines and DHL, as well as airport cleaning services and restaurant workers have been arrested at…

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…

News briefing – Week of 14 November

Reportedly, there are 440 organized crime groups operating in Spain, out of the 3,600 identified in all of Europe, as indicated by experts from the Spanish Guardia Civil and the National Police. The majority of those criminal groups are dedicated to drug trafficking and fraud. Ten organised crime groups in Spain are labeled as “high…

News briefing – Week of 3 October

The sixth Latin American and first Caribbean Conference on Drug Policy took place between 5 and 6 October in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. The conference provided a room for debate and evaluation of drug policies, as well as for discussing concrete policies to be implemented in order to fight against illicit drugs. It is estimated…

News briefing – Week of 19 September

During his address at the UN General Assembly, the President of Argentina, Mauricio Macri, highlighted the need to combating drug trafficking and violence associated with organized crime. Countries in the Latin America and Caribbean region are still facing important challenges, despite important progresses, including the peace agreement between the Government of Colombia and the Revolutionary…