On January 28, a workshop on Trafficking in Persons was held in Abuja, Nigeria. At this occasion, the Labour Migration Expert of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) discussed Alliance 8.7, a global network established in partnership with the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) with the aim of reducing child labour…
The authorities of Trinidad and Tobago are considering the legalisation of cannabis. In late December, the government announced that the drug will be decriminalised in May or June 2019. To this, some groups of the society responded that only legal cultivation could prevent the violence linked to organised crime. In Colombia, criminal groups are taking…
The main findings of the Global Report on Trafficking in Persons 2018 were discussed by the Executive Director of the UNODC and the Member States in Vienna on January 7, 2019. On January 7, the UN Secretary General met with the Guatemalan Foreign Minister at the UN headquarters in NY and he firmly rejected Guatemala’s…
In Costa Rica, 2018 ended with a seizure of nearly a tonne of cocaine at sea. The operation was conducted by the Costa Rican Coast Guard Service in the South Pacific area of the country, close to the Panamanian border. This brings the total seizures for 2018 to 33.5 tonnes. Jair Bolsonaro, who began his…
In Guatemala, an investigation shows the links between an influential pastor and a high-profile drug-trafficker to support the construction of a church. The concerned pastor and church denied the accusations. A legal expert suggests that Kenya include the Unexplained Wealth Order (UWO) in the country’s criminal law. In other countries, the UWO has had some…
Alfredo Guzmán Salazar, son of the Mexican drug lord “El Chapo” Guzmán, is reportedly in Medellín, Colombia under the protection of a criminal gang. He is allegedly controlling two laboratories in the city and coordinating the shipment of around 400 kg of cocaine per week to Mexico from the Colombian port of Buenaventura, highlighting the…
Operation Lionfish, an INTERPOL-led global effort against trafficking of illicit substances and drugs, was launched between 17 September and 8 October 2018, simultaneously across 93 countries. The operation resulted in the seizure of more than 55 tonnes of illicit substances including 35 tonnes of cocaine, five tonnes of heroin, 15 tonnes of cannabis and 430,000…
Britain announced a 2 million pound ($2.6 million) scheme to help authorities stop at risk children falling into the grip of traffickers and gangs who force them to move drugs over ‘county lines’ from cities to rural areas. A historic summit between the President of Colombia, Duque, and his political rivals took place at La…
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…
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…
