Colombian Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos told The Times that Britain has become the fastest growing customer of cocaine produced in Colombia.  As cocaine use drops in the United States, usage in Spain, the UK, and Portugal has made the European market for cocaine a close rival to the US.  The defense minister stated that most of the drugs entering Europe enters through Spain or Portugal.

Read the entire story at The Times.

Counterfeit Insulin Pen Needles produced by Novo Nordisk has been found by regulators in the United Kingdom.  Any patient who has come in to contact with the needles are being told to discard them immediately.

Read the story from Reuters.

The United States shut down a financial firm in Florida that was accused of selling black market dollars to people in Venezuela. According to the Wall Street Journal, Rosemont Finance Corp. served as a major clearinghouse for the black market exchange of dollars, which are officially banned.

From the Wall Street Journal:

The black market is a crucial cog in the nation’s financial system and counts giants such as state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela SA among its key players. If the market remains shut down for long, it could add to problems in Venezuela’s increasingly chaotic economy. Venezuela, the fourth-largest supplier of oil to the U.S., has already been hurt by the decline in crude prices, rampant corruption and overspending on social programs.

Read the entire story here.

According to an article in the Variety, Internet piracy causes losses of $3.8 billion in Italy.

Source:  Nick Vivarelli, “France, U.K. lead piracy battle,” Variety, March 27, 2009.

A woman attempting to sell bear bile was arrested by police in Los Angeles after she was found to have imported almost two pounds of bile from China.  According to authorities, the two pounds of bear bile has a street value of $400,000 dollars.   Bear bile, taken from a living bear’s gallbladder, is used as a treatment for conjunctivitis, jaundice and hemorrhoids.

See more data at our Wildlife Trafficking page.

Read the article at the Los Angeles Times.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton offered the strongest statement against the years of failure in the drug wars as she started a trip to Mexico.  When asked about the current policy towards illegal drugs, Clinton replied, “Clearly what we’ve been doing has not worked”. She further said, “Our insatiable demand for illegal drugs fuels the drug trade,” . “Neither interdiction nor reducing demand have been successful,” according to quotes in the Washington Post.

Read the entire article at the Washington Post.

An online music provider is gaining customers at a rapid pace in the United Kingdom as companies attempt to find new ways to bring music to people. 

According to a story in Newsweek, online music service Spotify provides  offers a huge online catalogue that rivals iTunes.  Listeners can listen directly from the site without having to store every song on to its computer.  The service is completely free if listeners are willing to hear an ad once every half hour.  Otherwise, they may pay $14 a month for the service. Record companies are willing to support the service in an attempt to limit losses from piracy. 

Read the article at Newsweek. 

The Obama Administration announced that it will be sending hundred of agents and equipment to the border to assist in the preventing the ongoing drug war in Mexico from spilling over.  360 agents will be sent to the Border Patrol and an additional 100 agents will be sent to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms.  In addition, drug sniffing dogs and surveillance equipment will also be sent to the region.  

90 percent of the US drug supply enters the country from the Mexican border, while 90 percent of the arms used by the drug cartels are bought in the US. 

Read the story at the New York Times. 

According to human trafficking analysts, the trade in Cambodia has been increasing dramatically as primarily women get caught up into the trade.  An article by Voice of America News stated that many of the victims end up with lasting physical and psychological damages.  An organization dedicated to rescuing victims of human trafficking has rescued over 5,000 girls since its founding in 1996.  

Read the entire story, “Human Trafficking On the Rise in Cambodia,” here. 

Drug cartels are increasingly become key players in the human smuggling market on the border between the US and Mexico.  According to US officials, the drug cartels have muscled their way into the trade, often taking over routes and operations from formerly independent smugglers.  On the border within the state of Arizona alone, the estimated market in human smuggling is $2 billion.  Federal laws are preventing border agents, drug enforcement agents, and ATF agents from working together.  The article in the LA Times mentions that if border agents cannot arrest smugglers for drug smuggling, as they do not have the authority that is needed from the DEA. 

Source: Josh Meyer, “Drug cartels raise the stakes on human smuggling,” Los Angeles Times, March 23, 2009.