News Briefing – Week of 14 March

Officials of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested four Mexican citizens accused of being responsible of the establishment of a massive lab for the production of methamphetamines in Delta. Four Nigerians, suspected of owning the facility, were detained as well. The drugs were reportedly destined to Singapore and Malaysia. Colombia’s government will…

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…

News Briefing – Week of 29 February

The International Narcotics Control Board (INCB), the body responsible for overseeing implementation of UN drug accords, released its last report. The Report contains chapters on the health and welfare of mankind and the international drug control system. According to the 2016 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report (INCSR), Belize has become a transshipment point for marijuana…

Weekly Briefing – Week of 22 February

Around 300 Ecuadorian fishermen have been arrested in the last three years by foreign authorities for being involved in international drug-trafficking rings. According to the Ecuadorian authorities, the fishermen are now under the custody in the United States, Guatemala or Colombia. The EMCDDA is currently developing estimates of the size of the drug market in the…

News Briefing – Week of 8 February

Barbados is now better equipped to fight transnational organised crime and boost its drug interdiction capacities following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding for the implementation of AIRCOP. An INTERPOL operation named “Operation Adwenpa” to strengthen border controls along the Abidjan-Lagos corridor has resulted in major seizures of drugs, stolen cars, currency, firearms and…

News Briefing – Week of 25 January

Ghana, Benin and Senegal are proposing a progressive approach to drugs in line with the AU Common African Position for UNGASS 2016. Rather than focusing on disproportionate law enforcement and repression, this common position will emphasise harm reduction over punitive measures. Ghana is currently reviewing its drug law, and it has set up an inter-ministerial…

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…

News Briefing – Week of 18 January

Eighty seizures of drugs and 70 people were arrested  during an INTERPOL operation targeting drug trafficking routes from Latin America via Africa to Europe. The operation was realised in collaboration with AIRCOP JAITFs that were able to share information via INTERPOL’s system I-24/7 and CENcomm, WCO’s communication tool. Argentinian President Macri declared a one-year national…