US military kills 11 in strike on alleged drug boat tied to Venezuelan cartel

The United States conducted a deadly military strike against an alleged drug boat tied to the cartel Tren de Aragua, President Donald Trump said Tuesday. The US president said 11 people were killed in the strike in “international waters.” Secretary Read More …

U.S. warships to patrol international waters around Venezuela as Trump vows to stop cartels

The U.S. military has sent destroyers and thousands of Marines toward Venezuela as President Donald Trump doubles down on deadly drug cartels, according to reports. At least three Aegis guided-missile destroyers — USS Gravely and USS Jason Dunham among them Read More …

UNODC: Organized crime dynamics in the context of war in Ukraine

Since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation in February 2022, the political economy of Ukraine has been profoundly transformed. The aggression affected both licit and illicit trade routes, disrupted criminal organizations, and spawned new forms of informal Read More …

Colombia: Three soldiers killed in attack with explosive-laden drones near Buenaventura city

Three soldiers have been killed in a drone attack in south-west Colombia, which authorities have blamed on a dissident rebel group. The devices dropped explosives on members of Colombia’s navy and army, who were manning a checkpoint on the Naya Read More …

Mexico has no evidence linking Venezuela’s Maduro to drug cartel

The president of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum, has denied that her government has any evidence linking Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro to the Sinaloa Cartel, a criminal network based in her country. Sheinbaum’s statements on Friday were prompted by an announcement one Read More …

U.S. Department of State: Reward Offer Increase of Up to $50 Million for Information Leading to Arrest and/or Conviction of Nicolás Maduro

The Department of State and the Department of Justice are announcing a reward offer increase of up to $50 million under the Narcotics Rewards Program (NRP) for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of Nicolás Maduro for violating U.S. Read More …

Mexican cartels using Ukrainian frontline to learn more about drone warfare

Mexican cartel operatives are understood to have joined Ukraine’s frontline so that they can learn advanced drone training to deploy against rivals and US security forces back in their homeland. Ukraine’s counterintelligence service confirmed it was currently investigating the potential Read More …

Colombia Seizes Remote-Controlled Narco-Submarine Equipped with Starlink Antenna

Colombia has seized a remote-controlled, unmanned narco-submarine, designed for autonomous operations and equipped with a Starlink antenna. According to local authorities, it belongs to local Gulf Clan (Clan del Golfo) drug cartel and was capable of transporting 1.5 tons of Read More …

DEA: National Drug Threat Assessment

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) presents the 2025 National Drug Threat Assessment (NDTA), a comprehensive report that provides a national-level perspective on the threats posed by deadly illicit drugs and the violent transnational criminal organizations responsible for producing the drugs Read More …

US spy planes hunt for intel on Mexican drug cartels as surveillance flights surge near border

The US military has significantly increased its surveillance of Mexican drug cartels over the past two weeks, with sophisticated spy planes flying at least 18 missions over the southwestern US and in international airspace around the Baja peninsula, according to Read More …

Japanese Yakuza Leader Pleads Guilty to Nuclear Materials Trafficking, Narcotics, and Weapons Charges

Takeshi Ebisawa, 60, of Japan, pleaded guilty in Manhattan, New York, today to conspiring with a network of associates to traffic nuclear materials, including uranium and weapons-grade plutonium, from Burma to other countries, as well as to international narcotics trafficking Read More …

Mexico: Car bomb attacks signal escalation of cartel violence

Cartel violence is gripping Mexico. In the state of Guerrero, the mayor of Chilpancingo was decapitated. In Sinaloa, a truck was discovered with at least five bodies along with the ominous message “Welcome to Culiacán.” And now Guanajuato has been Read More …

Mexico: Sinaloa cartel clashes leave at least 30 Dead

At least 30 people have been killed in the past two weeks in Mexico’s northern state of Sinaloa as rival factions of the powerful Sinaloa cartel continue to clash. Mexican Defense Secretary Luis Cresencio Sandoval confirmed on Tuesday that the Read More …

Mexico: 7 community guards killed by cartel gunmen in Michoacan, 7 others kidnapped

Mexico’s traditional and Indigenous community police forces are coming under increasingly deadly fire from drug cartels, authorities said Monday. Adrián López, the chief prosecutor in the western state of Michoacan, confirmed that gunmen linked to drug cartels shot to death Read More …

Mexico fears outbreak of violence after arrest of ‘El Mayo’ Zambada

A pre-arranged surrender to the authorities, a deception, or kidnapping at the hands of his former associates. These are the three main hypotheses that have gained traction following the fall of Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, one of the world’s most feared Read More …

U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency wants to use AI to scan for fentanyl at the border

In his State of the Union address last week, President Joe Biden urged Congress to pass a bipartisan immigration bill “with the toughest set of border security reforms we’ve ever seen.” The bill would have, among other things, funded “100 Read More …

Mexican Drug Cartels Employ Landmines and IEDs in Escalating Turf Wars

The series of blasts in the Tierra Caliente — an area along the border of Jalisco and Michoacán states that has long been a hot zone for cartel warfare — mark an alarming escalation of violence in Mexico as criminal Read More …

Cambodia: CMAC to train dogs to smell for drugs

Heng Ratana, the Executive Director of the Cambodian Mines Action Center (CMAC), says CMAC will be collaborating with the National Police to train dogs to sniff out drugs. The aim of this training is to combat and prevent drug trafficking Read More …

UNODC: Afghanistan opium cultivation in 2023 declined 95 per cent following drug ban

Opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan plunged by an estimated 95 per cent following a drug ban imposed by the de facto authorities in April 2022, according to a new research brief from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime Read More …

UNDOC: Understanding Illegal Methamphetamine Manufacture in Afghanistan

This analysis examines the modalities of illegal methamphetamine manufacture in Afghanistan, highlighting risks to the region. Coverage of suspected methamphetamine manufacture in Afghanistan, particularly in the news media in recent years, has generally focused on the use of the ephedra Read More …