News Briefing- Week of 2 of July

The United Kingdom Border Force Unit has handed over two operational vans and equipment valued at $120,000 Dollars to the Narcotic Control Board (NACOB) to boost Ghana’s fight against drug trafficking. Mozambique has become a significant heroin transit centre. Estimations suggest 40 tonnes or more per year are traded from Mozambique, making it a major…

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…

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…

News Briefing-Week of 11 of June

Conservative candidate Ivan Duque has won Colombia’s presidential runoff election on 17 June 2018. Duque’s presidential agenda included next to the peace deal also narco-trafficking. Colombia’s production of cocaine has increased, and armed groups are fighting each other for control of routes once controlled by FARC. The cocaine kingpin, Edgar Valdez Villarreal, known as “La…

News Briefing- Week of 4 June

The European Drug Report 2018, released on 7 June by the EMCDDA, mentioned that the purity of street cocaine across Europe is at its highest level in a decade and that the number of people seeking treatment for cocaine addiction has risen. Solution to fight illegal drugs can be country-specific, as the 3-year Mexico-Filipino cooperation…

News Briefing-Week of 28 of May

On May 26, Guatemala’s National Civil Police announced the discovery and destruction of almost one hectare of coca, calling it ‘’the first-ever evidence of cocaine production in the country’’. The discovery may be a sign that drug trafficking groups are looking to cut risks and transport costs while expanding experiments growing drug crops in Central…

News Briefing-Week of 21st of May

This year the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has several opportunities to revisit, rethink and reinvigorate the fight against organised crime in the region. The organisation is poised to significantly boost its role as a regional framework for policy development and action on serious issues, among which various forms of illicit trafficking, including…