Tag: maritime crime

British security intelligence firm Dryad Global issued its annual report for 2020, providing an overview of piracy trends worldwide. The report reveals that robberies are the most prevalent incident type in West Africa, but kidnapping incidents remain unacceptably high in Gulf of Guinea. Meanwhile, incidents in Indian Ocean and Southeast Asia remain low. 

Last week, 76 port and maritime supply chain representatives from 12 countries got together in a Port Stakeholders’ Workshop to agree on measures regarding wildlife trafficking through Mombasa Port, the largest port in Africa and key exit point of African wildlife trafficking, highlighting the urgent need for action against illegal wildlife trade.

Agents from US Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine Operations facilitated the seizure of over three tons of drugs in late March 2019. Namely, a Navy ship discovered 6,100 pounds of marijuana destined for the US, on board a panga-style vessel off the coast of Central America. The US Coast Guard and Navy teams seized the narcotics and sank the vessel as a danger to navigation.

Ministers from the ten Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries issued a joint statement which describes illegal trade of wildlife as “among the greatest challenges of ASEAN as the economic, social and environmental repercussions are severe and widespread in scale.”

With the proliferation of instruments and institutions over the last decade, the time has come to focus on deconflicting and coordinating the various portions of the maritime security architecture around Africa, said Dr. Ian Ralby, the Africa Center’s faculty lead for maritime law and security.

The ‘SuperFerry 14’, the deadliest terrorist attack in Philippines, killed a total of 116 people. The blast occurred on 27 February 2004 in Manila Bay, claiming the title of the world's deadliest terrorist attack at sea until today.

The crew of the USCG Cutter 'Forward' offloaded approximately 34,780 pounds of cocaine, Tuesday in Port Everglades, worth an estimated $466 million wholesale seized during patrols in international waters in the Eastern Pacific Ocean. The drugs were interdicted off the coasts of Mexico, and Central and South America.

Transnational maritime crime is becoming increasingly sophisticated as criminal groups exploit jurisdiction and enforcement challenges on the high seas, warned Yury Fedotov, Executive Director of UNODC, in his briefing to the United Nations Security Council debate on transnational organized crime at sea.

The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter 'Margaret Norvell' (WPC - 1105) offloaded 200 pounds of cocaine on January 30 and transferred custody of four suspected smugglers to U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agents in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico. The Coast Guard and Caribbean Border Interagency Group (CBIG) authorities found the $3 million dollar cocaine shipment and apprehended the suspected smugglers, following the interdiction of a go-fast vessel on 28 January night in waters north of Arecibo, Puerto Rico.

In a recent paper, UNODC focused on different examples of fisheries crime to illustrate its various methods, its extent and its economic value. Fisheries crime relates to a range of illegal activities in fisheries, including illegal fishing, document fraud, drug trafficking, and money laundering.