As part of the business of organised crime groups (OCGs), firearms are a tool for criminal violence enabling OCGs to leverage other forms of criminality, like gang violence, intimidation, or coercion. Apart from the violence and tension that a high number of firearms in a region creates representing a major human security concern, it also…
30/08 A suspected narcotic trafficker, Ibeh Ejike, has been arrested by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, after allegedly ingesting 87 wraps of cocaine. 30/08 Cargo ships act as trans-Atlantic drug carriers, with crews unaware. Police in Brazil have broken up a smuggling ring where divers…
On the 1st and 2nd of September 2021, UNODC brought together 16 East African, Middle Eastern, and Gulf countries for an inter-regional workshop on combatting trafficking in persons by air. The first-of-its-kind inter-regional workshop, gathering 105 participants, 26% of them being women, aimed to spread awareness on and find solutions to challenges related to trafficking…
25/08 Latin America’s Marijuana Markets Diversify. A series of seizures and drug raids across Latin America have revealed how previously niche high-strength marijuana products are establishing themselves within the region’s drug markets. 27/08 Two people were arrested in a tik (crystal methamphetamine) bust in Cape Town on Thursday night, Western Cape police said. The raid…
16/08 Afghanistan: Cheap heroin could flood European countries after Taliban takeover. With Afghanistan entering a new period of economic and political insecurity, the country’s opium production is set to soar, say experts, meaning cheap heroin could flood the streets of European towns and cities, along with the country’s deadly new export, crystal meth. 16/08 Cocaine…
12/08 Organized Crime and Corruption: a “Cause and Consequence” of Climate Change. After the U.N. climate panel report called this week for an urgent and drastic cut in CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions, experts told the OCCRP that organized crime and corruption play a significant role in the state of the climate crisis. 12/08…
02/08 Dominican gangs have become Spain’s primary urban security threat. On July 23, Spanish authorities announced the arrest of seven members of the Dominicans Don’t Play (DDP) street gang and the dismantling of a local chapter that operated in the Henares corridor of the greater Madrid area. 03/08 Colombia announces seizure of 116 tons of…
28/07 Paraguay seizes more than 3,400 kilos of cocaine. Authorities say the cocaine was being stashed in a load of sugar for international shipment. The destination is for the moment unknown. 28/07 Over 4,500 kilos of cocaine were seized in the Rotterdam port in two different fruit shipments. Customs officials found over 1,500 kilograms of…
The Firearms Protocol and the Programme of Action on small arms turn 20 this year. On the 26th of July 2021, the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) held a joint high-level side event on the continued importance of the two instruments. Esteemed experts,…
