Tag: marijuana

Afghanistan

NATO claims crackdown on Taliban hashish

With Afghanistan's opium output now breaking all previous records, hashish continues to remain an important sideline for the country's warring factions—and to hear the US tell it, it's the ultra-puritanical Taliban that are responsible for it. Recent NATO raids have claimed massive hash hauls from the hideouts of the Taliban's elite "Red Units." Operation Resolute Support commanders now say the Taliban have become a "narco-insurgency." (Photo: NATO)

Central America

Nicaragua: women march against army ‘massacre’

The International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women march in Nicaragua's capital was shut down by the riot police, who blocked the streets off shortly after demonstrators gathered. The Managua march was emotionally charged, as it was led by Elea Valle—a campesina woman whose husband, son and daughter were killed two weeks earlier in a raid by army troops on their home in the country's eastern rainforest.

Mexico

Sinaloa kingpin captured at Calexico

A man believed to be the godson of Mexican narco lord "Chapo" Guzmán was indicted in a San Diego federal court after turning himself in to US border agents at Calexico. Authorities say Damaso López Serrano AKA "Mini Lic" surrendered under pressure of a bloody power struggle over control of the Sinaloa Cartel.

The Andes

Colombian coca production in record jump

In unsettling news for the country's peace process with the FARC guerillas, Colombia registered a record-shattering 50% increase in coca-leaf cultivation last year, according to the latest report from the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). The figures, released by UNODC's Integrated Illicit Crops Monitoring System, show 146.000 hectares under coca cultivation in 2016, compared to 96.000 in 2015—actually a 52% jump.

Greater Middle East

UK court approves arms sales to Saudi Arabia

London's High Court of Justice ruled that the UK can continue to export arms to Saudi Arabia, rejecting a case asserting that the weapons have been used in the commission of war crimes in Yemen. A substantial portion of the court's reasoning is contained in a "closed judgment" document only available to the government's legal team and a security-cleared "special advocate" for the Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT).

Greater Middle East

Kurdish guerillas behind Turkey’s hashish trade?

Turkish government claims that Kurdish rebels in the country's east are profiting from the hashish trade point to an integrated counter-insurgency and drug enforcement campaign.

North Africa

Arab-Berber unity in Morocco protests

Protests continued for a second week in Morocco's neglected Rif region, and spread to cities throughout the country—bringing together Arabs and Berbers to demand democratic reform.

Southeast Asia

Duterte declares martial law in south Philippines

Duterte's declaration of martial law in Mindanao is ostensibly in response to an ISIS-linked terrorist group, but will give security forces a still freer hand in his murderous "war on drugs."

The Andes

Will coca sabotage Colombian peace process?

Enemies of Colombia's peace process are dealt propaganda assistance by the fact that as the long civil war has wound down, coca leaf production in the country has been soaring.

Southeast Asia

Duterte threatens to kill human rights activists

Accused of carrying out 3,000 extrajudicial executions, the Philippines' ultra-hardline President Duterte now threatens to kill human rights activists who dare to complain about it.