1/06/2020 – As law enforcement focuses of the Coronavirus lockdown measures, a substantial increase in cannabis cultivation in Albania is anticipated. Recent seizures indicate that the Balkan route remains a favoured trafficking route for Europe destined cannabis. Albania is also about to conclude a draft law which allows for the cultivation of medical cannabis in…
25/05/2020 – Moroccan authorities are analysing seizures made in 2019. It is reported that 119 tonnes of cannabis were seized as well as 13.5 million cigarettes and 680 000 pills that indicate psychotropic substances. 25/05/2020 – The Colombian army discovered 516kgs of cocaine hidden in 5 plastic containers. It is believed that the now seized drugs were…
The lock-down measures adopted in Morocco have disrupted the usual routes used to traffic cannabis towards Europe. Indeed, traffickers were previously relying on the commercial shipping vessels or high-speed boats crossing the Mediterranean. So as to avoid detection, they are favouring longer and more expansive routes however such methodology requires drug hand-overs at high sea. Burmese authorities…
As the Mexican government concentrate its resources on pandemic control, with the peak of COVID-19 expected in May, criminal groups continue to position themselves so as to strengthen their control and influence within the states, cities and regions they operate in. The COVID-19 pandemic in Peru has hit the cocaine trade in Peru. Cocaine prices have sharply…
700 kg of cocaine was seized at the Yokohama seaport in Japan in March 2020. The drugs were hidden in a container transporting boxes of bananas. According to the Japanese authorities, the drugs more than likely arrived by mistake as a result of traffickers not being able to unload at ports prior to Yokohama. Over 1600…
Heroin production is on the rise in the Golden Triangle according to the Narcotics Control Board secretary-general in Thailand and as seizure along the border between Myanmar and Laos suggest. The Golden Triangle is one of the largest areas where opium is grown. A large criminal network involved in fraud, money laundering and social…
Malaysian customs discovered six tonnes of African pangolin scales hidden beneath a layer of sacks containing cashew nuts. This was the first seizure at Port Klang since September 2017 and may indicate that traffickers are responding to greater security at other Malaysian ports as well as ports in Singapore where, last year, 40 tonnes of pangolin scales was…
Several prisoners escaped from four Brazilian prisons after authorities announced the suspension of the one-day release programme. This decision was taken as a preventive measure to avoid the spread of the Coronavirus, COVID-19. Honduras is becoming a cocaine producing country in addition to being a transit country. Reporting indicates that, between 2009 and 2020, 12…
Turkish authorities announced that 2384kgs of heroin have been seized as a result of international operational cooperation with five countries and EUROPOL. The seizures are the result of an investigation that followed a seizure of 300kgs of heroin in Genoa, Italy, back in 2018. The biggest seizure of 1105kgs was made in Kazakhstan, 703kgs in Germany, 350kgs…
Several suspects of Montenegrin nationality are currently detained in Aruba. They were arrested following the interception of the vessel “Arresa” in which five tonnes of cocaine was discovered onboard. This seizure was the result of an operation led by the Netherlands and Colombia and involved several months of investigation that included Serbian, British and Montenegrin…
