- After numerous seizures during the month of November, the Venezuelan authorities reported an increase in drug flows coming from Colombia through the country’s coastal state of Anzoátegui. It seems that the region is also the centre of an air-trafficking network, sending drugs to the Caribbean, Honduras and Mexico.
- The dismantling of a network of ketamine traffickers in Colombia suggests increased consumption of the drug in Latin America and abroad. The US, Asia and Europe have historically been the major markets for synthetic drugs, but now it seems that wealthy South American countries are experiencing a boom in the consumption of MDMA, LSD, ketamine and methamphetamine.
- The joint Operation Pollina led to considerable seizures of cocaine, ecstasy and money, as well as the arrest of 90 members of the Sicilian ‘Ndrangheta criminal organisation across Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg and Suriname. According to an Italian prosecutor, the arrests will severely affect the group’s operations in South America.
- The growing relationships between Mexican and Colombian criminal organisations have been highlighted by the dismantling of international money laundering networks that use human mules to swallow dirty money and transport it from Mexico to Colombia. Some of the networks have managed to move around $3 million using this method since 2015.
- Delhi airport in India has been described as the “main landing ground for narco hauls”. According to the evidence from seizures made this year, the key air routes for drug-trafficking include Brazil–Ethiopia–India and Brazil–Togo/Nigeria–India.
