The increase of cocaine production in Colombia has boosted the vulnerability of the Panamanian maritime transport industry. In 2018, the authorities of Colón arrested 330 people and seized 12 tonnes of cocaine, half of it in the port terminals. On the other side of the route, the ports of Rotterdam and Antwerp have registered an…
The mission of the Cocaine Route Monitoring and Support (CORMS) on seaport cooperation’s state of play in five Latin American countries kicked-off in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where the team attended the second Regional Workshop for Maritime Intelligence Units (MIUs) organised by the SEACOP project from March 19 to 21. The event was opened by a representative of the EU delegation to…
On Monday, the U.S Customs and Border Protection announced the seizure of 1.5 tonnes of cocaine, the biggest shipment of cocaine seized in New York and New Jersey in 25 years, in the Port of New York-Newark. The cocaine, which has an estimated street value of $77 million, was hidden in a shipping container originating…
In coordination with the National Gendarmerie of Argentina, the Bolivian police arrested in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia, an Argentinian drug-trafficker dubbed the “Chapo Guzmán” of South America. The man was reportedly trafficking drugs from Bolivia to Argentina using small planes and he had managed to escape from jail several times with the help…
Nigeria’s president in office Muhammad Buhari won the 2019 election with 15.2 million votes compared with 11.3 million votes for his opponent. At the announcement of the results, the opposition party claimed that the vote was manipulated by the ruling party. Iván Duque announced that the government of Colombia’s new security plan will not include…
The trial of the “Air Cocaine” drug-trafficking case started on 18 February in Aix-en-Provence, France. The case involves the seizure of 680 kilos of cocaine on board of a private jet in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic back in 2013. Both the pilots and passengers are facing up severe sentences. The kidnapping and assassination of three…
In 2018, the port of Rotterdam reached a peak in cocaine seizure with 19 tonnes. Of these, 4 tonnes were secured in December only. Most of the loads seized come from South America. On Tuesday, the UN Security Council discussed the pressing issue of transnational maritime crime. At this occasion the UNODC director highlighted the…
Colombia’s National Liberation Army (ELN) claimed responsibility for the car bomb attack which killed over 20 members of the Santander National Police Academy. Colombian president Ivan Duque promised to bring the perpetrators, deemed as terrorists, to justice. On January 23, the president of the National Assembly, Juan Guaidó declared himself as interim president of Venezuela,…
The authorities of Trinidad and Tobago are considering the legalisation of cannabis. In late December, the government announced that the drug will be decriminalised in May or June 2019. To this, some groups of the society responded that only legal cultivation could prevent the violence linked to organised crime. In Colombia, criminal groups are taking…
The main findings of the Global Report on Trafficking in Persons 2018 were discussed by the Executive Director of the UNODC and the Member States in Vienna on January 7, 2019. On January 7, the UN Secretary General met with the Guatemalan Foreign Minister at the UN headquarters in NY and he firmly rejected Guatemala’s…
