- 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 export item contributing up to $100 mn per year to the local economy.
- There were 934 drug-related deaths registered in Scotland in 2017, 66 (8 per cent) more than in 2016, according to figures released today by the National Records of Scotland (NRS). This is the largest number of drug-related deaths in Scotland since the series began in 1996.
- The Swiss Federal Council has recommended the approval of the sale of cannabis for medical purposes. The Home Affairs Ministry has now been tasked with proposing a change to the law by summer 2019.
- An operation led by the Spanish National Police, supported by INTERPOL, has dismantled an extensive organised crime network and resulted in the arrest of some 130 organised crime suspects, including several high-level individuals.
- According to the new Report ‘Tackling heroin trafficking on the East African Coast’, the volume of heroin shipped in recent years from Afghanistan along a network of maritime routes in East and southern Africa appears to have increased considerably. Most of this heroin is destined for Western markets, but there is a spin-off trade for local consumption.
