Salvadoran President vows tougher war on gangs after police killed
San Salvador, El Salvador Reuters President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador pledged on Tuesday that his government will “intensify” already tough efforts to combat gangs after three police officers were gunned down earlier in the day. Bukele declared a state of emergency in March in an effort to rein in a spike in homicides, suspending […]
Colombia truth commission urges drug policy change to end violence
Bogota, ColombiaReuters Colombian leaders must recognize how drug trafficking has penetrated the country’s culture, economy and politics and how the global war on drugs is driving its internal armed conflict, Colombia’s truth commission said on Tuesday in a long-awaited report. The commission, established as part of a 2016 peace deal between the government and the […]
In El Salvador’s gang crackdown, quotas drive “arbitrary” arrests of innocents
San Salvador, El Salvador Reuters Dozens of innocent people have been apprehended in El Salvador in recent months amid President Nayib Bukele’s “war on gangs,” after superiors forced officers to meet daily arrest quotas during a state of emergency, five officials told Reuters. In March, El Salvador registered 62 murders in a single day, the […]
Postcards: In Haiti, rising gang violence drives out small business owners
JOSEPH GUYLER DELVA and ANASTASIA MOLONEY, of Thomson Reuters Foundation, report on how mobs carrying out murder, extortion rackets and kidnappings are forcing many small traders to flee and driving up the cost of goods in an already shattered economy…
Ecuador declares emergency in three provinces on rising crime
Quito, EcuadorReuters Ecuadorean President Guillermo Lasso on Friday declared a 60-day state of emergency, including curfews in some areas and the deployment of thousands of security forces, in three of the country’s 24 provinces, citing a rise in crime. It marks the second time Lasso has used emergency powers to counter violence that has shot […]
Taliban bans drug cultivation, including lucrative opium
Kabul, Afghanistan/Peshawar, PakistanReuters The Taliban announced on Sunday a ban on the cultivation of narcotics in Afghanistan, the world’s biggest opium producer. “As per the decree of the supreme leader of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, all Afghans are informed that from now on, cultivation of poppy has been strictly prohibited across the country,” according […]
Essay: In Afghanistan, heroin and human trafficking are the only two sectors of the economy still thriving
UK researchers JONATHAN GOODHAND and JAN KOEHLER look – in an article first published on The Conversation – look at why the trade in people and drugs is growing in importance in Afghanistan…
Lifestory: J Dana Trent turns her drug-dealing childhood into a podcast about poverty and faith
YONAT SHIMRON, of Religion News Service speaks with J Dana Trent about her unusual upbringing which is explored in her new podcast series, ‘Breaking Good’…
Indian state launches assault on drugs as UN warns of Bangladesh-like crisis
Guwahati, India Reuters A north-eastern Indian state that has for years been a big transit point for illicit drugs originating in neighbouring Myanmar has launched a massive crackdown on the trade, seizing record amounts and arresting nearly 2,000 people since May. Assam, four of whose neighbouring states have open and rugged borders with Myanmar, connects […]
Ex-youth worker spotlights UK child drug trafficking in ‘County Lines’ film
London, UKThomson Reuters Foundation During a decade as a youth worker in Britain, Henry Blake worked with many children who had been trafficked by gangs to transport drugs and trapped in the illicit trade by debt and violence. The social worker turned filmmaker has drawn on his experiences to direct County Lines, a drama which […]