The XXX GAFILAT Plenary approved the implementation of a regional study of threats on money laundering (ML) and terrorist financing (TF) of the member countries of the Financial Action Task Force on Latin America with the financial support of the European Union. The pursued objective is for countries to achieve greater effectiveness in mitigating risks…
Bolivian authorities have confiscated approximately 8 tons of cocaine chlorhydrate in a single operation that took place between Santa Cruz and Yacuiba, on the Argentinean border. The value of the drugs has been estimated to US$ 640 million. By volume, this is the largest seizure of cocaine in a single operation carried out in Bolivia. The…
Spanish authorities seized three tonnes of cocaine coming from Colombia and arrested 12 alleged traffickers from Spain, Britain and the Netherlands. Seven-hundred kilos of cocaine were hidden in the bottom of a van, while the other 2.3 tonnes were disguised in the form of wooden pallets. According to a statement from the Nigerian National Drug…
The Centre for Studies on Public Security and Citizenship (CESeC) of Rio de Janeiro is trying to develop a new approach using public arts to educate people about drug war’s failure. In late April, the organisation launched an antiprohibition ad campaign, Da Proibição Nasce o Tráfico (“Trafficking Is Born of Prohibition”) which consists of five…
Seven people were arrested in a joint operation of Italian and Costa Rican law enforcement authorities during ten different raids in Pital de San Carlos, Rio Cuardo de Grecia, Santa Barbara de Heredia and San Jose, Costa Rica. Over the last several years, cocaine shipments from Costa Rica have made their way to 39 different…
Bolivian Defense Minister signed an agreeement to buy radar equipment designed to detect drug planes. The equipment was purchased from the French company Thales Air System. This agreement could help the government reduce Bolivia’s role in the “cocaine air bridge” from Peru to Brazil. Indigenous groups on the Caribbean coast of Honduras are denouncing distress…
Victor Ramon Navarro, one of the most important and ruthless cocaine warlords in Colombia, was killed in Catatumbo, during an airstrike followed by a ground operation organised by the Colombian Army. Diezani Allison-Madueke, Nigeria’s former minister of petroleum, was arrested in London as accused of money laundering. The former minister’s arrest would be the first high…
FBI stats reveal that in 2014 drug arrests were the single largest category of offenses with three times as many drug arrests last year as there were arrests for violent crimes. Interestingly, 45% of these were or 700,993 were marijuana related, and 88% for simple possession. Even though several states have legalised cannabis production, sale…
Argentine customs agents found about 30 kg of cocaine absorbed into grains of rice headed to Africa and then be transported to Europe. This seizure reflects the growing importance of Argentina as a shipping point for cocaine from Latin America to Western countries. Drug trafficking in Honduras has reportedly dropped 72% thanks to military intelligence…
In June 2015, a former advisor to Argentina’s Security Ministry, Jorge Rodriguez, warned of the increasing presence of Peruvian-run criminal groups in greater Buenos Aires. He believes that there are at least 12 cocaine-processing laboratories in the city, each generating an approximate daily profit of US $1,200,000. These operations, he said, could not be possible…
