News briefing week of 08 November

08/11 Gold, diamonds and drugs: Portuguese peacekeepers suspected of smuggling. Portuguese police have clamped down on a crime ring that allegedly involved the country’s U.N. peacekeepers in the Central African Republic (CAR) using military planes to smuggle gold, diamonds and drugs, authorities said on Monday. According to Portuguese police, the “criminal network” had international links…

News briefing week of 01 November

01/11 Customs officials made the largest drug bust of 2021 at the Port of Rotterdam as 4,178 kilos of cocaine was seized in the Netherlands. According to a statement published by the Public Prosecution Service in Rotterdam on Sunday, customs officials found the drugs in two containers from Paraguay, which were loaded onto another ship…

News briefing week of 25 October

26/10 Criminal group behind €45 million money laundering scheme dismantled in Spain. On 6 October 2021, 5 suspects were arrested in the Spanish province of Valencia for allegedly belonging to a criminal organisation that had laundered more than €45 million in Spain. This operation was carried out by the Spanish National Police (Policía Nacional), together…

News briefing week of 18 October

18/10 Morocco police seize over one tonne of cocaine in Tangier port -statement. The ship departed from Brazil and was heading to the ports of Antwerp in Belgium and Portbury in the UK, the police said in a statement. 19/10 Senegal seizes record 2 tonnes of cocaine off Atlantic coast. The 2,026 kilos of cocaine…

News briefing week of 11 October

14/10 Nigerian navy intercepts vessel, arrest 22 over cocaine trafficking. 22 Thai seafarers were arrested over alleged attempt to traffic 32.9kg of cocaine from Brazil into the shores of Nigeria. 14/10 Customs officers seized a total of 1,182 kilograms of cocaine in two different containers on the same ship at the port of Rotterdam. The…

News briefing week of 4 October

04/10 Police across EU arrest 330 organized crime suspects. Spanish authorities coordinated a Europe-wide operation that targeted several transnational organized crime groups and resulted in 330 arrests and dozens of new investigations into drug smuggling and illegal firearms trafficking. International police bodies, such as Interpol and Europol, facilitated intelligence sharing for the operation that involved…

News briefing week of 27 September

27/09 U.S. Coast Guard crews stopped a speedboat off the Dominican Republic that the agency said was hauling around 250 kilos with a wholesale value of about $7.5 million. 27/09 World Bank: Global illegal tobacco trade estimated at $50 billion annually, global counterfeit trade to reach $4 trillion by 2022. 27/09 Law enforcement agencies from…

News briefing week of 20 September

21/09 Nearly three tonnes of heroin with a street value of $2.7bn (£2bn) from Afghanistan have been seized from a western Indian port in a major bust, officials said. Two Indians were arrested after the heroin, which was kept in two containers marked as carrying talc, was found by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI)…

News briefing week of 13 September

13/09 The Nigerian National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), has intercepted more than 24,311 kilos of different hard drugs at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MIIA), Ikeja and the Tin-Can Seaport, Apapa, Lagos respectively. The substances were suspected to be heroin, codeine, Arizona and Colorado variants of cannabis. 13/09 Colombian Defence Minister announces seizure of…

News briefing week of 06 September

06/09 Heroin worth $2.4 million seized in southeastern Turkey. Turkey, a transit route in drug smuggling between Asia and Europe. 07/09 Indian agencies track huge heroin seizure off Sri Lanka. More than 600 kilos of heroin seized, and seven Pakistani nationals arrested. 08/09 Netherlands, Belgium overtake Spain as main gateways into Europe for cocaine. In…