29/07/2020 – The Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs stated during a press briefing that Africa has become a hub for organised crime and a source of illicit drugs, mentioning the involvement of Nigerian organisation in the manufacture of methamphetamines. 30/07/2020 -A fleet of 206 Chinese fishing boats…
20/07/2020 – Mexico’s Ministry of Security and Citizen Protection and EUROPOL concluded a formal Working Arrangement to expand their collaboration on security matters. 21/07/2020 – Costa Rican and Honduran authorities seized almost three tonnes of cocaine. Costa Rican authorities seized two tonnes in national waters on board a ship in collaboration with US and Colombian authorities whilst Honduras intercepted a…
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…
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 Costa Rica, 2018 ended with a seizure of nearly a tonne of cocaine at sea. The operation was conducted by the Costa Rican Coast Guard Service in the South Pacific area of the country, close to the Panamanian border. This brings the total seizures for 2018 to 33.5 tonnes. Jair Bolsonaro, who began his…
Costa Rica’s government is struggling to stall worsening violence driven by local criminal groups battling for control of domestic drug markets. Costa Rica is a key transshipment point for Colombian cocaine heading to the United States and Europe. Instead of making payments in dollars, transnational criminal organizations often pay local criminal groups in drugs. With…
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 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…
CRIMJUST delivered a Regional Workshop on Asset Recovery and Mechanism for the Prosecution of the Illicit Product on 11 June 2018 together with the School of Public Prosecutors of the Public Ministry of Panama. With the participation of officers from the Public Prosecution Office(s) of Panama, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala and the Dominican Republic,…
Conservative candidate Ivan Duque has won Colombia’s presidential runoff election on 17 June 2018. Duque’s presidential agenda included next to the peace deal also narco-trafficking. Colombia’s production of cocaine has increased, and armed groups are fighting each other for control of routes once controlled by FARC. The cocaine kingpin, Edgar Valdez Villarreal, known as “La…
