News briefing – Week of 8 May

The government of Guatemala declared a state of emergency in the Ixchiguan and Tajumulco municipalities, at the border of Mexico, which have known a surge in drug-related violence, Guatemala being a transit hub for Mexican and South American drug cartels. Troops will be sent to the two cities to prevent criminal gangs from operating.

Deux cellules aéroportuaires anti-trafics (CAAT) installées au Cameroun dans le cadre de la lutte contre le trafic international de drogue

L’ONUDC et le gouvernement du Cameroun ont officiellement inauguré à Yaoundé deux Cellules aéroportuaires anti-trafics (CAAT) des aéroports internationaux de Yaoundé et Douala. Les cellules anti-trafics ont pour objectif de contrer le trafic international de drogue par le renforcement des capacités de détection et d’interdiction aux aéroports, ainsi comme des capacités en matière d’investigations post-saisies.…

News Briefing – Week of 7 March

The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), the European Union and International Police (INTERPOL) have jointly launched a Euro 1.3-million programme to fight money laundering. INTERPOL will support investigative capacity building of law enforcement agencies in the Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA) Region in the area of financial crimes at national and international…

Analysis of Regional Threats on Money Laundering

The XXX GAFILAT Plenary approved the implementation of a regional study of threats on money laundering (ML) and terrorist financing (TF) of the member countries of the Financial Action Task Force on Latin America with the financial support of the European Union. The pursued objective is for countries to achieve greater effectiveness in mitigating risks…

Military bombings against Urabeños’ camps will continue in Colombia

Rodolfo Palomino, Director of the Colombian National Police, opened 2016 with a new phase of “Operation Agamemnon” that involves airstrikes against the camps of so-called bacrim (criminal bands) and the Urabeños group, descendants of ERPAC (Popular Revolutionary Anti-Terrorist Army of Colombia). The Urabeños, along with with the Rastrojos, Meta, and Aguilas Negras, have evolved into major drug…

News Briefing – Week of 4 January

Spanish authorities seized  three tonnes of cocaine  coming from Colombia and arrested 12 alleged traffickers from Spain, Britain and the Netherlands. Seven-hundred kilos of cocaine were hidden in the bottom of a van, while the other 2.3 tonnes were disguised in the form of wooden pallets. According to a statement from the Nigerian National Drug…

News Briefing – Week beginning on 22 September

Argentine customs agents found about 30 kg of cocaine absorbed into grains of rice headed to Africa and then be transported to Europe. This seizure reflects the growing importance of Argentina as a shipping point for cocaine from Latin America to Western countries. Drug trafficking in Honduras has reportedly dropped 72% thanks to military intelligence…

Drones, a new form of transportation for drug traffickers?

Small recreational drones flown autonomously by remote pilots have gained popularity.Used for photography, film-making and sports, most recreational drones are innocuous. Punitive anti-drugs strategies in Latin America may be creating a new market for drones though. For example, the destruction of landing strips in Peru by the military creates a need for new ways to…