Newsbriefing – Week of 21 January

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,…

News Briefing- Week of 23 of July

Intelligence sources said the Urabeños drugs gang had put a 200m-peso ($70,000; £53,000) price on the German shepherd’s head after she found almost 10 tonnes of the gang’s cocaine. According to a new report from the watchdog agency Semáforo Delictivo and Lantia Consultores, executions linked to organised crime in Mexico have risen to record levels…

News briefing – Week of 20 March

According to the latest International Narcotics Control Strategy Report on Drug and Chemical Control, released by the U.S. State Department, a list of five Caribbean nations has been sent to the U.S. Congress by US President Trump, naming ‘major illicit drug producing and/or drug-transit countries.’ This includes the Bahamas, Haiti, Belize, the Dominican Republic and…

Drug Policy: Jamaica Decriminalises Cannabis, West Africa Joins the Debate

The global movement for drug policy reform continues to gather momentum in both West Africa and the Caribbean. On 2 June 2014, the Jamaican cabinet amended the Dangerous Drugs Act, making the possession of small quantities of ganja (cannabis) for personal use a ticketable infraction with only a financial penalty. Infractions will be dealt with…