News Briefing- Week of 30 of July

The Costa-Rica Ministry of Public Security for surveillance against organised crime and illegal fishing will use a King Air 250 as a mobile radar to battle drug trafficking as well as to protect the marine life. Mexican police arrested Victor Manuel Perez, alias “Pantera 16” (Panther 16) or “Comandante Viento” (Commander Wind), regional leader of…

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 challenges Ghanaian, Liberian and Nigerian prosecutors to solve a fictitious organized crime and corruption case to strengthen their investigation management skills

CRIMJUST, the West African Network of Central Authorities and Prosecutors (WACAP) and the UNODC Project “Response to Drugs and Related Organized Crime in Nigeria” held a Workshop on Strengthening Integrity in Investigation and Prosecution of Complex Cases, on 19-20 July in Lagos, Nigeria. For two days, the participants- 30 criminal justice practitioners, mainly prosecutors from…

CRIMJUST, WACAP and the Nigerian Drugs Project combat drug trafficking and organised crime together

CRIMJUST, the West African Network of Central Authorities and Prosecutors (WACAP) and the UNODC Project “Response to Drugs and Related Organized Crime in Nigeria” delivered a three-day joint workshop in Lagos, Nigeria, on 16-18 July 2018. Thirty participants from Ghanaian, Liberian and Nigerian criminal justice agencies discussed good practices to increase the efficiency of investigations…

CRIMJUST supports Peru in fostering international judicial cooperation in organised crime and drug trafficking

Under the framework of CRIMJUST, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) delivered a workshop in International Judicial Cooperation in cases of organised crime, drug trafficking and money laundering, in collaboration with the National Commission for Development and Life Without Drugs (DEVIDA PERU) and the Iberoamerican Network of Anti-Drug Prosecutors (RFAI), on 26-28…

News Briefing- Week of 9 of July

Between March and May 2018, INTERPOL coordinated operations in 36 countries across Africa, Asia, the Middle East and South America, with the aim of shutting down factories and cutting off supply chains behind a wide range of counterfeit goods and the organised crime networks directing them. The operations yielded  global seizures worth USD 25 million.…

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…

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…

Cocaine production hits absolute record highs according to the latest UNODC World Drug Report

  The 2018 World Drug Report, launched on 26 June by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), provides a global overview of the supply and demand of opiates, cocaine, cannabis, amphetamine-type stimulants and new psychoactive substances (NPS), as well as their impact on health. Moreover, it highlights the different drug use patterns…