🇲🇽🇨🇴 Cartels traffic drugs in industrial machinery

Cartels, including those from Mexico, have found in industrial machinery a means to traffic drugs, mainly cocaine and methamphetamine, to Europe and Asia, as it provides greater shielding and allows for the transport of larger quantities.

According to information from the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Addiction, this modus operandi has increased so far this year with a total of eight cases in at least three of the 27 countries that make up the European Union (EU). Last year only three cases were recorded and in 2020, two. In the latest case, German authorities seized 200 kilograms of methamphetamine hidden in a 24-ton hydraulic press from Mexico last week.

The cost of the drug would reach 400 million pesos on the illegal market, according to German authorities.

Another 66 kilos of cocaine hidden in heavy rolling machines were seized last month by authorities in Spain. The machinery originated in Peru and was destined for Barcelona, according to the Guardia Civil.

Also in Spain, 464 kilograms of cocaine hidden inside an 11-ton crushing machine were intercepted at the port of Valencia. The seizure took place in January and the seized substance originated in Colombia.

This year, almost one ton of cocaine and methamphetamine transported in industrial machines has been seized, a figure higher than the 252 kilograms seized last year under the same circumstances, according to authorities in charge of the operations.

#Mexico #Colombia #EU

@meriblood

🇵🇦 Nearly 250,000 migrants crossed Panama’s Darien Gap so far this year, more than in all of 2022

▪️The number of migrants crossing Panama’s dangerous, jungle-clad Darien Gap swelled to almost 250,000 in the first seven months of 2023, surpassing the number that crossed in all of 2022, officials said Friday.

The surge comes despite an agreement announced in April between the United States, Colombia and Panama to offer alternatives to migration.

▪️The United Nations projects that if the pace keeps up, as many as 400,000 may cross the gap by the year’s end. Experts say it would be hard to crack down on the smuggling gangs that operate the route.

Panama’s National Immigration service said 248,901 migrants had made the trip through July 31, and that 21% of those crossing were children or adolescents.

🔎 Source
#DarienGap #Panama #US #Colombia

☠️ Blood Meridian

🇲🇽 Mexico tops the "world's most violent cities" list

🔻A Mexican study conducted in 2022 found that Mexico tops the ranking of the world's most violent cities by a wide margin.

The study looked at homicide rates in cities with populations of 300,000 or more (excluding Venezuela). Of the 50 cities, 38 were in Latin America and 17 were in Mexico alone.

🇲🇽 The Mexican city of Colima was named the most violent city, where there are almost 182 murders per 100 thousand people. Previously, Caracas, the capital of Venezuela, held the first place, but the data for 2022 is not available.

Nine of the top 10 cities are in Mexico, including Mexican cities on the U.S. border - Tijuana and Ciudad Juarez.

🇺🇸 In the U.S., seven cities made the list: New Orleans (8th), Baltimore (17th), Detroit (23rd), Memphis (25th), Cleveland (27th), Milwaukee (39th) and Philadelphia (46th).

🇧🇷🇨🇴🇿🇦 Other countries that appear frequently on the list include Brazil (10 cities), Colombia (six cities) and South Africa (four cities).

🔻The situation in Mexico is certainly related to drug cartel activity. In U.S. border cities, the situation is aggravated by migration.

However, this data set is not very representative, especially in the case of Mexico, as the criminal situation is much more severe in the less populated cities, heavily influenced by cartels.

#Mexico #US #Brazil #Colombia

☠️ Blood Meridian

🇧🇷 Eight Amazon rainforest countries open summit in Belem, Brazil

For the first time in 14 years, presidents of the South American nations home to the Amazon rainforest are converging to chart a common course for protection of the bioregion and address organized crime.

The summit Tuesday and Wednesday in the Brazilian city of Belem is a meeting of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization. Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has said he hopes the Belem summit will awaken the organization that has met only three times in 45 years.

It’s Lula’s second attempt to form an Amazon bloc. He tried back when the last Amazon summit was held in 2009, during his first presidency, but was joined by only one other president from the region, Bharrat Jagdeo of Guyana.

🔎 Source
#Brazil #Bolivia #Peru #Ecuador #Colombia #Venezuela

☠️ Blood Meridian

🌎 Eight Amazon countries sign Belem Declaration

🔻Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela Tuesday signed the Belem Declaration on the opening day of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO) Summit in the Brazilian State of Pará.

Amazon nations agreed to a list of unified policies and measures to bolster regional cooperation, which include: protection and promotion of human rights; active participation and promotion of the rights of indigenous peoples and local and traditional communities; gender equality.

It was up to the Brazilian government, as host of the Summit, to present a basic text, later analyzed and adjusted by the other countries.

🔻The joint declaration creates an alliance for combating forest destruction, but still leaves countries to pursue their own individual deforestation goals.

The European media were quick to call the Belem Declaration "a failure," as a lack of common stance on deforestation among countries of the Amazon region complicates the EU's negotiation process. The issue of deforestation is still standing in the way of the EU-Mercosur trade deal.

🔎 Source
#Brazil #Bolivia #Colombia #Ecuador #Guyana #Peru #Suriname #Venezuela #EU

☠️ Blood Meridian

🇨🇴 Uribe charged over alleged plot to bribe Colombian gangsters

Former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe faces trial over an alleged conspiracy to bribe jailed criminals.

The Attorney General’s office said in a statement Tuesday that the former leader will be charged with bribing witnesses and undermining the course of justice.

🔎 Source
#Colombia

☠️ Blood Meridian

#Colombia 🇨🇴: Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (#FARC-EP) fighters entered a town and raised their flag in the vicinity of La Gabarra, Tibú.

Some of the fighters appear to be armed with “Kalashnikov” (AKM / AK-47) pattern rifles chambered in 7.62x39mm.

https://x.com/i/status/2080093007018123708