Latest news with #UnitedNationsOfficeonDrugsandCrime
6 hours ago
Indonesia arrests 2 foreigners for smuggling cocaine to Bali
DENPASAR, Indonesia -- Indonesian authorities said Thursday they have arrested two foreigners accused of smuggling cocaine to the tourist island of Bali. A Brazilian man and a South African woman were arrested separately on July 13 after customs officers at Bali's international airport saw suspicious items in the man's luggage and the woman's underwear on X-ray scans. Indonesia has extremely strict drug laws, and convicted smugglers are sometimes executed by firing squad. The 25-year-old Brazilian man, who police identified by his initials as YB, was arrested with 3,086.36 grams (6.8 pounds) of cocaine in the lining of his suitcase and backpack shortly after he arrived at the airport from Dubai, said Made Sinar Subawa, head of the Eradication Division at Bali's Narcotic Agency. The same day, customs officers caught a 32-year-old South African woman, identified as LN, and seized 990.83 grams (2.1 pounds) of cocaine she in her underwear, Subawa said. During interrogation, YB said that he was promised 400 million rupiah ($2,450) to hand the cocaine he obtained in Brasilia to a man he called as Tio Paulo, while LN expected to get 25 million rupiah ($1,500) after deliver the drugs to someone she identified as Cindy, according to Subawa. Subawa said a police operation failed to catch the two people named by the suspects, whom police believee are low-level distributors. Authorities presented the suspects wearing orange prison uniforms and masks, with their hands handcuffed, at a news conference in Denpasar, the capital, along with the cocaine they were found with. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime says Indonesia is a major drug-smuggling hub despite having some of the strictest drug laws in the world, in part because international drug syndicates target its young population. The Denpasar District Court later Thursday is set to sentence two other groups of foreigners on drug charges. Verdicts for an Argentine woman and a British man who were accused of smuggling cocaine onto the island, and for drug offense against a group of three British nationals, including a woman, are expected to be read out separately at the same court. About 530 people are on death row in Indonesia, mostly for drug-related crimes, including 96 foreigners, the Ministry of Immigration and Corrections' data showed. Indonesia's last executions, of a citizen and three foreigners, were carried out in July 2016.
Daily Maverick
16-07-2025
- Politics
- Daily Maverick
Piracy decline sparks wave of kidnappings in the Bight of Biafra
A decline in piracy has pushed criminals towards hostage-taking, creating a growing ransom economy in the ocean region from Nigeria to Gabon. Nigerian pirates kidnapped two government officials in Idabato, a Cameroonian border town in the Bakassi Peninsula, on 1 October 2024. One hostage, Ewane Roland Ekeh, was released on 17 March – after six months in captivity in Nigeria. The second, Etongo Ismael, remains in captivity. Since 2021, counterpiracy measures have been in place in the Bight of Biafra (or Bight of Bonny), an ocean region stretching from the Niger River mouth in Nigeria to Cape Lopez in Gabon. This has seen an overall decline in maritime piracy crime, compelling pirates to find alternative criminal activities to support themselves. They have focused primarily on hostage-taking for ransom, the crime to which Ekeh and Etongo fell victim. A rise in hostage-taking incidents in the Bight of Biafra since October 2023 can be associated with its proximity to the Niger Delta, the epicentre of maritime crime in the region, where waters are largely ungoverned. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime has reported the presence of Nigerian pirate camps in border areas near Cameroon. This was confirmed by Cameroon's Delta Rapid Intervention Battalion (RIB) commander Colonel Ndikum Azieh, who said there were nine active Nigerian pirate groups operating in the Bakassi Peninsula. Former captives and Cameroonian soldiers told the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) anonymously that the factions operating in the peninsula had established bases near Apka Irok – a Nigerian fishing village across from Kombo a Bedimo, Cameroon. Niger Delta and Bakassi Peninsula These groups have well-developed hierarchical organisational structures. One group, comprising nearly 270 fighters and led by a 'Border King', is organised into nine operational units of about 30 men each, each overseen by a 'general'. These Nigerian groups are known to operate well beyond their home bases, extending their reach to far-off waters, including those of Equatorial Guinea, São Tomé and Príncipe, and Gabon. When not actively engaged in pirating activities, they abduct locals in mangrove regions and on land. Azieh said pirates adapted their tactics based on their targets. For lower-value targets – described as village women and children – kidnappings can happen at any time, often timed after army patrols have passed through an area. For high-value targets, such as government officials, pirates gather intelligence and strike at night with swift boats and teams of about 10 armed with AK-47s or PKM 7.62 machine guns. The operations are usually completed within five minutes. A Bakassi Peninsula municipal official told ISS anonymously that hostages were taken to remote mangroves in Nigeria or fisheries in the peninsula, making escape difficult. This illicit industry generates substantial profits for criminal groups. Reports indicate that in Nigeria alone about $400,000 was paid in ransom to kidnappers between July 2022 and June 2023. The money is divided among various role players, including kingpins, sponsors, group leaders, negotiators, specialised team members, assault teams, camp guards and those providing onshore support. Kidnapping is traumatic for the victims and their families. Moreover, due to the persistent threat, many administrative officials, service personnel and civil servants only stay intermittently on the Bakassi Peninsula, while their families live elsewhere for safety. Thus, they are frequently absent from their official duties, affecting essential services. The kidnappings threaten both local and regional security. The area is a critical shipping zone and plays a vital role in the region's transportation of goods, fishing activities and extraction of hydrocarbon resources. As with local officials, security forces are reluctant to confront the pirates. In Nigeria, security forces sometimes lack essential resources, like fuel, hampering their ability to address piracy effectively. In Cameroon, particularly in towns like Idabato, the police and gendarmerie units are severely understaffed. Cameroon's South-West governor, Bernard Okalia Bilai, declared a total lockdown in the Bakassi Peninsula last October, but this angered local residents, who then couldn't earn a living, and elevated tensions between Nigerian and Cameroonian residents in the area. There is also an absence of effective cross-border cooperation at the tactical level. This is despite a robust political and strategic partnership established under the 2013 Yaoundé maritime security architecture, which created multinational centres for cooperation, and information and intelligence sharing. These security cooperation agreements have not cascaded to lower administrative and security units. RIB soldiers say they are unable to carry out operations against pirates who are often just across the border in Nigeria. While Nigeria has honed its negotiating skills with kidnappers and criminal networks, other countries in the region don't yet have the capacity to negotiate the release of hostages. For example, family sources say Ekeh's release took a while, despite attempts by the local negotiator and Cameroonian security forces. In 2022, Nigeria enacted a law against paying ransoms, while Cameroon insists it 'does not negotiate with terrorists'. However, the reality that ransoms have been paid for the release of Western hostages creates a perception of double standards and fosters feelings of abandonment and hopelessness among local hostages' families. Ekeh's family and local journalists told ISS that his family managed to raise $100,000 from local residents, relatives, colleagues and local elites to pay his ransom. Insecurity in the Bight of Biafra was recently heightened following an announcement by the Biafra Nations League (BNL) – a Nigerian secessionist armed group operating in northeastern Nigeria and the Bakassi Peninsula – that it was launching significant operations in the area. Faced with the continuation and possibly an increase in kidnapping for ransom by pirates and threats from the BNL, states along the Bight of Biafra must actively enforce existing bilateral and multilateral security arrangements. Ensuring these agreements are implemented at the level of local security and administrative units to allow for real-time cross-border security collaboration is imperative. Both policies and operations should aim to address a range of maritime crimes, such as piracy, sea robbery and kidnapping for ransom, akin to Nigeria's Deep Blue Project. Here a regional legal framework allowing for the right of pursuit or creating a combined maritime task force would help foster cooperation across different operational maritime and coastal zones. DM
Express Tribune
15-07-2025
- Politics
- Express Tribune
AI chatbot launched for persons with disabilities
The Special Talent Exchange Programme (STEP) has officially launched Pakistan's first AI-based chatbot for persons with disabilities. This initiative has been developed in collaboration with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA), and with generous support from the European Union (EU). The launch event took place at the National University of Science & Technology (NUST), where representatives from government, civil society, and academia were present. The chatbot is launched under the theme "An Initiative for a Peaceful and Inclusive Society." Designed as a multilingual and accessible digital support tool, NOOR AI is the first-of-its-kind in Pakistan. It addresses the specific needs of persons with disabilities, especially women, who often face systemic exclusion in accessing vital services. The chatbot also offers confidential, rights-based guidance on disability rights, inclusive education, employment opportunities, legal aid, gender-based violence (GBV) protection and awareness around preventing violent extremism (PVE). In his opening remarks, STEP Executive Director, Muhammad Atif Sheikh, called NOOR AI "an empowering digital platform for women and youth affected by disability and marginalisation. Sharing insights from STEP's broader initiative, "Empowering Women with Disabilities in Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism (P/CVE)," especially in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, he pointed out how national action plans and CVE policies in Pakistan often overlook disability, despite the double marginalisation that women with disabilities face - both due to their gender and their disability. "NOOR AI is not just a chatbot; it's a peace-building tool. It addresses gaps in digital access, legal awareness, and psychosocial support, all of which are critical to inclusive resilience," he noted. STEP Director Programmes, Abia Akram, emphasised the urgency of disability-inclusive policy reform in Pakistan. She stressed the need to ensure that persons with disabilities are not only beneficiaries but also leaders in digital and peacebuilding spaces.
.jpg%3Fwidth%3D780%26fit%3Dcover%26gravity%3Dfaces%26dpr%3D2%26quality%3Dmedium%26source%3Dnar-cms%26format%3Dauto&w=3840&q=100)
Nikkei Asia
15-07-2025
- Politics
- Nikkei Asia
UN seeks to boost fentanyl info-sharing in Asia following Nikkei report
Crime Office on Drugs and Crime official calls Japan 'key partner' for regional strategy Jeremy Douglas is chief of staff to the executive director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. (Photo by Takayuki Tanaka) TAKAYUKI TANAKA TOKYO -- The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime will consider creating a working group with Southeast Asian countries, China and Japan to share information on fentanyl smuggling, a senior official said, following a Nikkei investigation that revealed Japan's role in the global supply chain. The comment was made by Jeremy Douglas, UNODC chief of staff to the executive director, in an interview with Nikkei, which published an investigation last month into a Chinese operation that smuggled precursors for the synthetic drug into the U.S. via Japan. Douglas is a key figure at UNODC and has led efforts to fight the drug trade in Asia for years.
Newsroom
15-07-2025
- Newsroom
Stemming the drug tide at Auckland Airport
The trickle of drugs into the country has become a flood, fed by New Zealanders' appetite for them and willingness to pay. Between January and May this year customs officers nationwide seized more than 1600kg of methamphetamine, cocaine and MDMA. About a third of that comes through Auckland Airport – from January 1 until now it's seized 542kg of methamphetamine and cocaine. Today on The Detail we head out to the business end of customs to get the inside view. Customs manager Paul Williams says they're dealing with an increasing number of smuggling attempts, and some of the culprits don't even try to hide it. 'The biggest shift that we've seen is no concealment whatsoever. So we're seeing criminal groups using couriers and you open up the bag and the drugs are sitting there,' he says. Williams puts the change down to criminals becoming more confident. 'It's a confidence they have, with respect to what they're doing and I expect like any business they perhaps operate at a level of understanding of what type of wastage or what type of level of drugs they may lose with respects to their efforts,' he says. Customs manager at Auckland Airport, Paul Williams. Photo: Supplied When Williams started out in the sector a little over two decades ago, drug trafficking was an occasional event, and when it happened the substances were meticulously concealed. But nowadays drugs are found in mail or cargo every day. On just one flight there was a haul of 101kg. Tracking and uncovering the drugs involves casting a broad net. 'It's not just an officer in a booth, we may have a dog operating … we work really closely with international partners around trends, observations, their own experiences and that helps us look at people in advance through the data the airlines have,' Williams says. A large amount of the illicit drug market comes out of parts of South America and Asia, but Williams says that doesn't mean they focus only on people and luggage from those places. 'The key thing to remember is that for New Zealand, we receive multiple flights and multiple vessels from a host of different trade routes and passenger routes … and so criminal groups will always look to try to hide where things are coming from,' he says. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime says organised criminal networks are driving the illicit drug trade, with devastating consequences for people and communities around the world. It says stopping drug trafficking requires long-term coordinated action to address supply and demand, and to prevent organised criminal groups from exploiting vulnerabilities. Williams says there's significant investment in offshore operations because the best-case scenario is catching the drugs before they get here. 'It's a real win for New Zealand because, just purely from a fiscal perspective, you don't have a court process, you don't have that lead-in time to the court process, you don't have drugs that you have to store and then eventually dispose of. 'You don't run the risk of those drugs actually entering society and having all the actual harm that comes from the consumption from those drugs,' he says. Williams says the nature of drug trafficking has changed a lot over the years, so reflecting and learning from past cases is essential. 'We've done a lot in the export space … to help and protect the primary exporters of New Zealand, helping them secure their supply chain a bit more and then they get trade-offs through the Authorised Economic Operator programme … faster access to market essentially. 'We work really closely with DHL, FedEx, a host of other facilitators of imported goods and we look to educate them on what it is that we see at the border and we talk to them about exploitation, we talk to them about vulnerabilities within the supply chain. 'The more that they understand how the supply chain works and where the vulnerabilities are the more they are attuned to what's going on and that then results in them talking to us and they can often come to us and say 'We think we've got an issue here,' and we will go in and we'll help them.' Check out how to listen to and follow The Detail here. You can also stay up-to-date by liking us on Facebook or following us on Twitter.
