25/05/2020 – Moroccan authorities are analysing seizures made in 2019. It is reported that 119 tonnes of cannabis were seized as well as 13.5 million cigarettes and 680 000 pills that indicate psychotropic substances. 25/05/2020 – The Colombian army discovered 516kgs of cocaine hidden in 5 plastic containers. It is believed that the now seized drugs were…
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…
Several prisoners escaped from four Brazilian prisons after authorities announced the suspension of the one-day release programme. This decision was taken as a preventive measure to avoid the spread of the Coronavirus, COVID-19. Honduras is becoming a cocaine producing country in addition to being a transit country. Reporting indicates that, between 2009 and 2020, 12…
For 5 days, from 25 to 29 November, participants exchanged on coordination and synergies, but also challenges in the fight against illicit trafficking, and in particular drug trafficking, both inside and outside Europe. The launch of the EU Drug Market’s Report on 26 November underpinned discussions on the current global drug production and European consumption,…
In a new report, Human Rights Watch documents the rising violence linked to illegal deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon. Over the past five years, 28 environmental enforcement agents and indigenous people opposed to illegal logging have been killed by organised crime groups who profit from deforestation. More than 300 people have been murdered in the last…
Customs seized 1.5 tonnes of cocaine on a container ship in Hamburg, Germany. The ship came from Rio Grande, Brazil, and was heading for Antwerp, Belgium. The haul value is estimated at about 350 million euros. This comes a month after Germany seized a record 4.5 tonnes of cocaine in Hamburg. Conservative candidate Alejandro Giammattei…
German customs have seized 4.5 tonnes of cocaine valued around one billion euros in the port of Hamburg. The drug was being shipped from Uruguay to Antwerp, Belgium. This is Germany’s largest single seizure of cocaine. Joint international operation supported by Europol, INTERPOL and WCO led to the seizure of 18.000 cultural goods, including 10.000…
The Mexican drug kingpin Joaquin Guzman, also known as “El Chapo”, was sentenced to life in prison in the US. He formerly ran the Sinaloa cartel in northern Mexico, which was the biggest supplier of drugs to the US. He was accused of trafficking hundreds of tonnes of cocaine into the country. A new aerial…
The price of opium dropped by 90 percent over the past year and a half in Mexico, due to speculation, high heroin production and changes in the supply and demand of illegal drugs in the US. Fentanyl, a synthetic opiate, is increasingly replacing heroin. This is driving farmers away from poppy cultivation. Mexican law enforcement…
CRIMJUST, a Cocaine Route Programme component, took part in the 28th Session of the United Nations Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (CCPCJ) in Vienna, Austria, on 21 May. It was a unique opportunity for CRIMJUST to present, together with the Integrated Illicit Crop Monitoring System Project of the UNODC Office in Colombia, the…
