https://www.cbsnews.com/news/juan-o...-45-years-us-prison-cocaine-trafficking/

Ex-president of Honduras Juan Orlando Hernández sentenced to 45 years in U.S. prison for cocaine trafficking

https://www.brantfordexpositor.ca/n...erdict-in-47m-drug-bust-at-sarnia-border

Trucker emotional amid not guilty verdict in $47M drug bust at Sarnia border

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...iles-Spanish-coast-cops-arrest-them.html

Moment bungling team of drug smugglers are saved from the top of their sinking Colombian Narco sub 280 miles off the Spanish coast - before cops arrest them

The Zeeland-West Brabant Seaport Police found approximately 3,000 kilos of cocaine in a business building in the port area of ??Moerdijk on Friday. Three suspects have been arrested. The Public Prosecution Service reported this on Saturday morning.

https://www.crimesite.nl/3-000-kilo-cocaine-aangetroffen-in-telescoopkraan-haven-moerdijk/

https://www.theguardian.com/austral...ff-accused-drug-smuggling-cartels-ntwnfb

Melbourne airport staff accused of smuggling drugs for organised crime cartels

6 tons of drug precursors for the Netherlands seized in Milan
July 1, 2024

Italian customs have seized over 6 tons of raw materials that can be used for the production of drugs. The shipment from China – good for the production of over 63 million ecstasy pills – was intended for the Dutch market. Two Chinese have been arrested in the Netherlands.

Milan Airport
The drug precursors were found during a goods inspection at Milan airport. The seized raw materials were labelled as polyester powder coating, but investigation showed that they were 6,337 kilos of precursors, including more than 1,000 kilos of PMK.

According to the authorities, the raw materials could have produced more than 63 million MDMA pills (the active ingredient in ecstasy). The ecstasy would have been worth 630 million euros on the European market.

The Netherlands
Investigation by the Italian police showed that the raw materials were destined for an address in the Netherlands. After the Italian authorities contacted the Dutch police, two Chinese were arrested in our country. During their arrests, the police seized 155 kilos of PMK, 32 kilos of ketamine, 40 kilos of methylamine (used to make MDMA), 3 kilos of MDMA pills and 40 kilos of marijuana.

The investigation also focuses on an entrepreneur from Milan. The raw materials would be transported to the Netherlands via a company in Milan.

https://www.crimesite.nl/6-ton-drugsprecursoren-voor-nederland-gepakt-in-milaan/

https://e.vnexpress.net/news/news/c...79-kg-in-drugs-from-germany-4764941.html

Vietnam's largest-ever aviation bust yields 179 kg in drugs from Germany

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/28829667/ibiza-narcos-cocaine-turf-wars/

ISLE OF WHITE Ibiza’s ‘barbaric’ coke wars with dismembered bodies dumped in bags & cartel bosses who get eyes shot out by OWN hitmen

Global cocaine record broken again | Police seizures stagnate
July 4, 2024

Global cocaine record broken again | Police seizures stagnate
Global cocaine production has increased for the fifth consecutive year. According to the latest available figures from the UNODC, estimated cocaine production increased by 20% between 2021 and 2022. This is according to the (annual) World Drug Report published this week .


2,700 tons
According to the UNODC, more than 2,700 tons of cocaine were produced in 2022, a record (2,304 tons in 2021). The number of hectares planted with coca bushes also increased between 2021 and 2022: from 315,500 hectares to 355,000 hectares.

The number of tons of cocaine seized by law enforcement agencies has fallen slightly, from 2,026 tons in 2021 to just over 2,000 tons in 2022.


Seizures
The number of kilos seized by law enforcement agencies is stable in absolute terms, but has improved in relative terms. In 2021, some 56% of total production was seized in 2021, while in 2022 this rose to 75%.

These percentages fluctuated between 55% (in 2007) and 82% (in 2015) in the period between 2007 and 2022.

Wholesale prices for a kilo of cocaine have fallen slightly over the same period, so that – globally – they appear to be more related to average increases in production than to police intervention.

Cocaine use in Southern and Central Europe is rising according to the UN, while the market in North America is shrinking. Cocaine use in Asian countries and Australia and New Zealand is also steadily increasing.

Golden Triangle
The UNODC expresses concern in the World Drug Report about the increase in the cultivation of opium in the border area between Thailand, Myanmar and Laos, traditionally called the Golden Triangle. The production of heroin (from opium) in Afghanistan has decreased by three quarters due to intervention by the Taliban regime.

The Golden Triangle is also seeing a sharp increase in methamphetamine production.

Worldwide, ecstasy use has declined, but in several European countries there were slightly more users in 2022.

https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/data-and-analysis/world-drug-report-2024.html

https://insightcrime.org/news/the-rise-of-albanian-dritan-gjika-and-his-cocaine-network-to-europe/

The Pioneering Albanian Trafficker Who Took Ecuador’s Drug Trade By Storm

https://windsorstar.com/news/local-...cker-makes-bail-other-accused-in-custody

Sarnia-area $5M drug bust: Trucker makes bail; other accused in custody

https://www.victoriabuzz.com/2024/0...d-drugs-bust-on-langfords-bear-mountain/

Police reveal major gun and drug bust on Langford’s Bear Mountain

https://newlinesmag.com/spotlight/the-politics-of-turkeys-coke-connection/

The Politics of Turkey’s Coke Connection
Why have so many drug kingpins come to reside in the country?

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/br...s-story/974bed4dba19630e14ec89bad01cee01

Daniel Wayne John Roberts, Jacob John Furfaro, Thomas James Pfeffer charged over drug trafficking plot

https://www.thepress.co.nz/nz-news/...lombian-cocaine-syndicate-members-jailed

Tears and pleas for mercy as $45m Colombian cocaine syndicate members jailed

https://wng.org/sift/colombian-man-sentenced-to-more-than-15-years-for-drug-trafficking-1720216046

Colombian man sentenced to more than 15 years for drug trafficking

https://www.borderlandbeat.com/2024/07/the-secretariat-of-navy-semar-seized.html

The Secretariat Of The Navy (Semar) Seized Eighty-Eight Tons Of Precursor Chemicals, Allegedly Belonging To A Sinaloa Criminal Cell In Manzanillo, Colima.

https://hoodline.com/2024/07/miami-...d-smugglers-detained-by-u-s-coast-guard/

MIAMI PORT SEES $17 MILLION DRUG SEIZURE, 10 SUSPECTED SMUGGLERS DETAINED BY U.S. COAST GUARD

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...-53million-drug-smuggling-racket-UK.html

Love Island star, 29, faces jail after she was caught flying into Heathrow from Dubai as a cocaine courier in £53million county lines drug smuggling racket

https://www.al-monitor.com/original...ousands-narcotics-tablets-760-pounds-qat

Saudi's latest drug bust: thousands of narcotics tablets, 760 pounds of qat

https://kitchener.citynews.ca/2024/...rop-sharply-while-seizures-of-meth-soar/

Mexico’s efforts to seize US-bound fentanyl drop sharply, while seizures of meth soar

https://www.borderlandbeat.com/2024/07/super-cartel-camorra-trafficker-turned.html

Super Cartel Camorra Trafficker Turned Informant Raffaele Imperiale Sentenced to 15 Years in Italy

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/13/world/americas/colombia-cocaine.html

Colombia Faces a New Problem: Too Much Cocaine

https://www.arabnews.com/node/2548846/saudi-arabia

Saudi authorities arrest 5 suspects in separate drug-trafficking cases

https://ilovekent.net/kent-locals-linked-to-rv-drug-smuggling-operation-sentenced/

Kent locals linked to RV drug smuggling operation sentenced

https://www.lapresse.ca/actualites/...los-de-cocaine-dans-un-piano-a-queue.php

RCMP seize 62.7 kilos of cocaine in a grand piano

https://www.arise.tv/ndlea-thwarts-major-drug-smuggling-operations-to-the-us-uk-cyprus/

NDLEA Thwarts Major Drug Smuggling Operations to the US, UK, Cyprus

https://www.malheurenterprise.com/2...ve-drugs-in-treasure-valley-every-month/

Ontario woman claims cartel coerced her to move drugs in Treasure Valley every month

https://toronto.citynews.ca/2024/07...d-in-sugar-in-its-biggest-drug-bust-yet/

Operation Sweetness: Paraguay finds 4 tons of cocaine stashed in sugar in its biggest drug bust yet