The first underground  factory producing counterfeit cigarettes has been discovered by the Spanish police in the province of Malaga. The illegal factory had the capacity to produce around 3500 cigarettes per hour. This discovery, which EUROPOL, Lithuania, Poland and the United Kingdom contributed to, was made possible further to the arrest of 20 persons […]

  14 alleged members of a drug trafficking gang were arrested by the Spanish police in Catalonia following an investigation that started in December 2018 after the discovery and seizure of a large quantity of cocaine in boxes of A4 paper shipped from Brazil. The gang were thought to be laundering the profit of their trafficking […]

CRIMJUST, ENACT and SEACOP, three initiatives of the Global Illicit Flows Programme, held their steering committees in Brussels, Belgium, respectively on 30 January, 12 and 13 February. The projects presented their respective latest achievements. It was also the forum for each of them to discuss the strategic directions for 2020. Partners and projects operating in […]

  The Crime at Sea event took place on 12 February 2020, and was held at the External Cooperation Infopoint in Brussels. Bringing together over 70 participants, the event aimed to discuss the West African coastal threats and the European responses. Experts, partners and representatives of the ENACT and SEACOP projects, part of the Global […]

    The Ivory Coast navy seized 411 kg of cocaine and made 5 arrests following the discovery of a ship idling at high sea. The ship was seen to offload the drugs to a smaller vessel that came alongside. The West African coast is vulnerable to illicit drug trafficking, as previous seizures in Cape Verde and Guinea Bissau […]

  The Director of the EMCDDA presented the EU Drugs market report 2019 to the Committee on Civil liberties, Justice and Home Affairs at the European Parliament in Brussels. The director put emphasis on the fact it is a wake-up call for policymakers looking at the worrying trends of the illicit market which is fast growing, well […]

On 29 January 2020, the rummage section of Joint Container and Ships Control Unit (UMCC) searched the “Grande Nigeria”. This vessel had previously been involved, in June 2019, in the seizure of 798 kilograms of cocaine. The search of the vessel resulted in the discovery of 4 bags carefully hidden in the vessel’s ventilation system, […]

  The EMCDDA and the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD) have discussed and agreed on the next joint work programme covering the period 2020-2024. The cooperation between the EMCDDA and the CICAD has been ongoing since 2000 and is framed by a Memorandum of Understanding. One of the major components of their cooperation is the joint […]

  Illegal landing strips in Venezuela are proliferating under the control of the ELN, the FARC and the EPL, also known as the “Los Pelusos”. Utilised to move drugs and the pre-cursor chemicals that support cocaine production, the issue of clandestine airstrips is a growing concern. Fueling parallel and illicit economies and underpinned by corruption and […]