News Briefing – Week of 20 July

20/07/2020 – Mexico’s Ministry of Security and Citizen Protection and EUROPOL concluded a formal Working Arrangement to expand their collaboration on security matters. 21/07/2020 – Costa Rican and Honduran authorities seized almost three tonnes of cocaine. Costa Rican authorities seized two tonnes in national waters on board a ship in collaboration with US and Colombian authorities whilst Honduras intercepted a…

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News briefing – Week of 13 July

14/07/2020 – The former Surinamese minister of Justice, Chandrikapersad Santokhi, has been elected president of Suriname. 13/07/2020 – Guinea has issued an arrest warrant against a Guinean citizen residing in Germany who is allegedly involved in the forging of visas. Guinean customs had previously seized 7300 stamped visas in a truck that had traveled from Germany. 14/07/2020…

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News Briefing – Week of 6 July

(In French) 6/07/2020 – Luis Abinader has been elected president of the Dominican Republic. 7/07/2020 – Thailand and Laos enforcement authorities are cooperating in the fight against drug trafficking at the northeastern Thai border with Laos that is highly vulnerable to the trafficking of methamphetamines and heroin. The Golden triangle (Myanmar, Lao and Thailand) is associated with high levels…

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News Briefing – Week of 29 June

29/06/2020 – A joint investigation between Spanish and Italian law enforcement enabled the dismantlement of an organised crime group trafficking waste from the canary islands to Africa. It is estimated that the organised crime group trafficked around 250 tonnes of hazardous waste. 29/06/2020 – Greek authorities arrested two suspected traffickers after the discovery of 11kg of heroin…

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News Briefing – Week of 22 June

22/06/2020 – French customs seized 552 kg of cannabis in a lorry that left Spain and was transporting fruits and vegetable to the Rungis market. 23/06/2020 – Wildlife trafficking in Colombia is prolific. The fight against the wildlife trafficking industry is not yet fully operational because the country is not yet equipped with the adequate legislation and technologies…

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News Briefing – Week of 8 June

9/06/2020 – Polish authorities seized three tonnes of cocaine that was concealed in barrels of frozen pineapple pulp that had been shipped from Ecuador, the record seizure led to the arrest of three suspects and follows a two tonne seizure made back in December 2019.   9/06/2020 – The illegal trade and poaching of Jaguars is growing in Central and…

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News Briefing – Week of 1 June

  1/06/2020 – As law enforcement focuses of the Coronavirus lockdown measures, a substantial increase in cannabis cultivation in Albania is anticipated. Recent seizures indicate that the Balkan route remains a favoured trafficking route for Europe destined cannabis. Albania is also about to conclude a draft law which allows for the cultivation of medical cannabis in…

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News Briefing – Week of 25 May

  25/05/2020 – Moroccan authorities are analysing seizures made in 2019. It is reported that 119 tonnes of cannabis were seized as well as 13.5 million cigarettes and 680 000 pills that indicate psychotropic substances.   25/05/2020 – The Colombian army discovered 516kgs of cocaine hidden in 5 plastic containers. It is believed that the now seized drugs were…

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News Briefing – Week of 18 May

The lock-down measures adopted in Morocco have disrupted the usual routes used to traffic cannabis towards Europe. Indeed, traffickers were previously relying on the commercial shipping vessels or high-speed boats crossing the Mediterranean. So as to avoid detection, they are favouring longer and more expansive routes however such methodology requires drug hand-overs at high sea.  Burmese authorities…

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