Colombia: an alternative approach to fighting cocaine production
Colombia is pursuing a peaceful alternative to its enduring drug crisis by offering payments to farmers who agree to uproot coca (the plant used to make cocaine) and replace it with legal crops…
Birmingham cocaine crime gang boss found guilty
Sajid Ali, 56, from Hall Green, Birmingham, has been convicted of leading a criminal gang in a £11 million drug smuggling operation. With four accomplices, he orchestrated a plan to import Class A…
USA: cocaine found at White House
The US Secret Service is investigating how cocaine was found at the White House, with visitor logs and footage combed for clues. The discovery in the West Wing, which contains the Oval Office…
Ireland: cocaine and guns
On 12 July the Gardaí seized €1.1m worth of cocaine and arrested three men at Dublin Airport with support from German and South American police and revenue officers. Investigations are still ongoing. The…
Smuggling and selling Class A drugs
Border Force stopped a lorry on its way to Kent through the Channel Tunnel carrying cocaine with a street value of £33m concealed in a 418kg load of frozen onion rings. Lorry driver…
Venezuela: violence, Hezbollah, drug production
29 April was a day of chaos and violence after opposition leader Juan Guaidó called for a military uprising in Caracas and urged supporters to take to the streets to force his rival…
Colombia: rebels help to eradicate coca
Colombia has announced a crop substitution programme to eradicate the raw material for cocaine. The Farc rebel group relied on cocaine production to fund its insurgency and controlled much of the industry, but…
