Record amount of cocaine seized in Gambia by Zuzana Zelenakova

As British authorities informed Wednesday, Gambian police seized a record amount of cocaine worth millions of dollars. The potential street value of 2,100 kilograms of cocaine is much higher as it is often diluted. “It is highly likely a large proportion of these drugs would have found their way onto the streets of Europe and the U.K.,” said Neil Giles, deputy director for the Serious Organized Crime Agency (SOCA). “Taking this cocaine, and the profits that it would have generated, out of the hands of criminals is a major blow to their operations,” he said. Apart from the haul of drugs, also about a dozen of suspects of Dutch and Venezuelan origin w! ere arrested. The police confiscated arms and cash too. British agents were called to help with collecting forensic evidence and that is when they came upon a hidden room full of cocaine that came from Latin America. The police raid of suspected warehouses occurred last Friday in the Gambian capital of Banjul. Gambia´s President Yahya Jammeh is known for his strict drug policy. Drug trafficking is growing in the region and according to the United Nations it is used as a trans-shipment point for drugs from Latin America headed for Europe. In March, several high government officials were arrested in Gambia and it was suggested it might have had something to do with the drug trade. "I have zero tolerance for criminals. I have double-zero tolerance for drugs," said President Yahya Jammeh. "The country, over my dead body, will become a narcotics state." The drug cartels are reaching for Europe and Africa as they see great potential in the local markets. The US is no longer ! that attractive since it achieved its peak in the 80s. It is e! stimated that about 250 tons of drugs are smuggled to Europe every year and a great deal of it is entering the old continent from Africa.

related story (sgx17541): http://www.france24.com/en/20100609-billion-dollar-cocaine-s...

by Zuzana Zelenakova for Cantell TV (http://cantell.tv)

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