AIRCOP JAITF in El Salvador detects a passenger wanted by the FBI and INTERPOL on charges of terrorism

The Joint Airport Interdiction Task Force (JAITF) of the Airport Communication Project (AIRCOP) based at the Monseñor Oscar Arnulfo Romero International Airport in San Salvador (El Salvador) on 9 August sucessfully detected and investigated Joseph Mahmoud Dibee, wanted for 12 years by the FBI and INTERPOL on charges of arson, destruction of an electric tower…

News Briefing-Week of 20 of August

Authorities in Mexico have made what is almost certainly the largest seizure of methamphetamine in the country’s history, approximately 50 metric tons, along with precursor chemicals and equipment in the western state of Sinaloa. This seizure suggests that growing US demand has encouraged Mexican crime groups to increase production. In one of the largest drug…

News Briefing-Week of 13 of August

Costa Rica’s government is struggling to stall worsening violence driven by local criminal groups battling for control of domestic drug markets. Costa Rica is a key transshipment point for Colombian cocaine heading to the United States and Europe. Instead of making payments in dollars, transnational criminal organizations often pay local criminal groups in drugs. With…

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…

UNODC presents the main findings from its work in supporting the process of destruction/incineration of illicit drugs seized in Bolivia in the first semester of 2018

During its mission to Bolivia, CORMS attended, on 23 July, the presentation of the main findings from the UNODC’s work in supporting the process of destruction/incineration of illicit drugs seized in Bolivia in the first semester of 2018. The Representative of the UNODC in Bolivia, Mr. Thierry Rostan, who gave the presentation, recognised the work…

News Briefing-Week of 16 of July

UNODC and the G5 Sahel agreed, during a joint meeting organised in Nouakchott on 18 July 2018, to strengthen their cooperation in the areas of security and justice. Support in the opening of three new Joint Airport Interdiction Task Forces (JAITF), in N’Djamena (Chad), Nouakchott (Mauritania), Agadez (Niger), as part of the AIRCOP program was…

News Briefing- Week of 25 of June

Left-wing candidate Andrés Manuel López Obrador has claimed victory in Mexico’s presidential election, held on 1 July. One of his main policies is combating Mexico’s record levels of violence, much of it related to drug cartels. Epidiolex, a cannabis-based treatment for childhood epilepsy developed, is set to be launched in the autumn after being approved…

UNODC and CRIMJUST strengthen Digital Evidence Capabilities through a specialised course in Panama

CRIMJUST and the UNODC Global Programme on Cybercrime launched a Training Workshop on Cybercrime to improve the participants’ technical skills on digital evidence gathering and ensure an effective response to challenges arising from drug trafficking. The course took place in Panama from 25 to 26 June 2018. Twenty-six participants, officers from the Public Prosecution Office…

News Briefing-Week of 18 of June

Recreational marijuana use will soon be legal in Canada after the Senate passed a “historic” bill on 19 June with a vote of 52-29. Canada is only the second country in the world — and the first G7 nation — to implement legislation to permit a nationwide marijuana market. Fourteen cocaine-soaked shirts styled like the…

UNODC Assists the Public Ministry of Panama to Launch a Regional Workshop on Asset Recovery and Mechanisms for the Prosecution of the proceeds of crime

CRIMJUST delivered a Regional Workshop on Asset Recovery and Mechanism for the Prosecution of the Illicit Product on 11 June 2018 together with the School of Public Prosecutors of the Public Ministry of Panama. With the participation of officers from the Public Prosecution Office(s) of Panama, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala and the Dominican Republic,…