President sacks Alusine Kanneh after video of him with Johannes Leijdekkers, one of Europe’s most wantedSierra Leone’s president has fired the head of the immigration service days after footage was published showing him receiving a birthday gift from a…
Sources place Johannes Leijdekkers in west African country since at least December 2022One of Europe’s most-wanted drug lords has been living in Sierra Leone for at least two years, spending time at nightclubs and house parties, sources have told the G…
‘Baseline’ contamination study to inform Netherlands trial in which shops will sell drug produced by licensed growersLead, pesticides and potentially harmful bacteria were among the contaminants found during an investigation into cannabis sold in semi-…
Félix ‘the Cat’ Bingui due to appear in Marseille court on multiple charges including money launderingOne of France’s most wanted suspected drug traffickers was due in court in Marseille after his extradition from Morocco.Félix Bingui, known as “the Ca…
Tech-savvy organised crime groups profiting from billion-dollar enterprise that is spreading beyond Russian bordersAt any one moment in towns and cities across Russia, thousands of drug packages lie buried in the ground, attached by magnets to lamp-pos…
Partner in company due to receive shipment arrested after 13 tonnes of drug discovered at port of AlgecirasSpanish police and customs officers have intercepted the largest known consignment of cocaine ever to reach the country, seizing more than 13 ton…
Shootings in Poitiers are latest to injure children, with minister saying country at ‘tipping point’ on drug violenceA shooting and massive brawl linked to drug trafficking has seriously wounded five people, including three teenagers, in western France…
France’s second city makes headlines for crime, but also for being welcoming and progressive. Neither cliche does it justiceEarlier this month, France’s second city suffered a pair of brutal killings that appeared to be the latest in a long list of tra…
Police seek to identify intended recipient after drugs found under pallets at four Grand Frais storesDozens of kilograms of cocaine have been found in banana deliveries to four of a French supermarket chain’s stores, with police unsure who the intended…
The nordic nation has become a gateway to Europe for South American drug traffickersArmed with a powered screwdriver, a crowbar and a handheld scanner, the Norwegian customs officers climbed up a tower of refrigerated containers. With the striking scen…
Mayor of Norwegian capital, Anne Lindboe, says drugs worth up to £570m have entered through the portThe mayor of Oslo has warned that drug smugglers are increasingly targeting the Norwegian capital as a gateway to Europe as authorities tighten controls…
Mobile facility found near Barcelona capable of producing 10kg of drug a day, say police, who seized 70kgSpanish police have arrested 10 people and seized 70kg of methamphetamine after discovering a “highly sophisticated” synthetic drug laboratory capa…
Tip-off from Colombian authorities led to haul of 35.5 tonnes worth £2.2bn hidden among fruit and vegatablesHow big is Europe’s cocaine problem – and what is the human cost?German prosecutors have announced the seizure of cocaine worth €2.6bn (£2.2bn) …
As white powder bound for European ports floods the city of Agadez in Niger, female migrants are the most common victims in a growing addiction crisisRead more in this seriesIn recent years, women who have become trapped in sex work in the Niger city o…
Eight tonnes of cocaine seized and 40 people arrested after four-year investigation led by Spain’s Guardia Civil• How big is Europe’s cocaine problem – and what is the human cost?Forty people have been arrested and eight tonnes of cocaine seized as the…
For serious drug gangs, thousands of children coming from Morocco and Algeria offer an unlimited pool of cheap, disposable street sellersRead more in this series Continue reading…
Exclusive: Guardian investigation shows white powder trail linking hundreds of vulnerable African minors with ruthless gangsBeaten and tortured: the north African children paying a bloody price for Europe’s insatiable appetite for cocaineHundreds of un…
Nicknamed “The Fly”, he reportedly had links to the drugs trade and was freed when armed men attacked a prison van.
Nicknamed “The Fly”, he reportedly had links to the drugs trade and was freed when armed men attacked a prison van.
Groups monitoring organised crime warn that Turkey is becoming entry point for drugs reaching EuropeTurkish police have seized the third largest haul of cocaine in the country’s history, the interior minister, Ali Yerlikaya, has announced, as groups mo…
Europe has been ‘negligent,’ as an acceptance of cocaine and cannabis leads to corruption, violence, and misery, says AboutalebThe mayor of a city on the frontline of the illegal drug trade has said that a “negligent” attitude to recreational drug use,…
Spanish police find 2.3 tonnes of cocaine following negotiation with Serb allegedly holding crew hostageIt seemed it would be a routine police operation after a tipoff came in regarding a vessel ferrying 2.3 tonnes of cocaine from South America to Spai…
Online access to home addresses is a cherished right. But as gangs target rivals with ease, innocent victims are caught in the blastsOn a night in September, as summer was turning to autumn, Soha Saad dozed off on the sofa as she stayed up late studyin…
Robin Prior says current policies make the drug trade more profitable, while Bill Nightingale thinks the evidence for the approach advocated by the mayor of Amsterdam is overwhelmingIn her refreshingly frank piece, Femke Halsema, the mayor of Amsterdam…
We’re proud of our health-led drugs policy, but the rise of the global illegal drugs trade means we need international solutionsIn the Netherlands, we used to look on the international “war on drugs” with a certain amount of disdain. Its solutions were…
Against a backdrop of surging cocaine imports and drug crime, the Netherlands has new plans to encourage young people to reject criminal careersReports of children as young as 10 or 12 being exploited by drug gangs have sparked Dutch authorities to inv…
The country’s drugs commissioner will present a plan to tackle drug-related crimes to Belgium’s National Security Council on Wednesday.
Commissioner reveals plans to foil child exploitation by criminal gangs as figures show half of homicides in the bloc are now drug-relatedChildren exploited by drug gangs face the same plight as child soldiers forced into killing and maiming people for…
Customs officials face losing battle as €10bn cocaine trade leads to dramatic increase in violent crime in north-west EuropeSqueezed between the two channels of France’s biggest container port is a warren of narrow alleyways, blowsy 1950s bungalows and…
Spate of killings blamed on drugs trade leads prime minister to consider calling on armed forces
Illegal guns are relatively accessible, with younger and younger children being drawn into serious crimeIn the small Swedish city of Örebro, guns are so easy to come by that social services say most of the high-risk young people they work with in relat…
