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 […]
2020 kicked off with three GIFP project steering committees
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 […]
Full house at the ‘Crime at Sea’ event!
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 […]
Newsbriefing – Week of 3 February
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 […]
Newsbriefing – Week of 27 January
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 […]
A new cocaine seizure in Dakar!
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, […]
Newsbriefing – Week of 20 January
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 […]
Newsbriefing – Week of 13 January
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 […]
Newsbriefing – Week of 6 January
In the era of trade globalisation, the use of containers at sea has become and remains the most efficient way to smuggle illicit drugs. Container ships have doubled in size and can therefore carry more containers than 10 years ago and pressure to deliver the shipments on time has increased. Comparatively and proportionately speaking, fewer containers […]
Going beyond seizures: the investigative case forum – Focus on a CRIMJUST flagship activity
The end of 2019 was marked by the successful implementation of the fourth Investigative Drug Case Forum, a flagship event that was organised by project CRIMJUST. Like the other components of the Global Illicit Flows Programme (GIFP), and whilst complementing them, CRIMJUST has a transnational mandate and targets its efforts to promote enhanced cooperation […]