Cocaine

state of play · Shadow

Ukraine struck Wildberries e-commerce warehouses in the St. Petersburg region for at least the fifth time in a week on July 23-24, citing the platform's documented role as a marketplace for FPV drone components, attack-drone parts, and military equipment sold to Russian armed forces in violation of international sanctions; Russian authorities have officially designated the strikes "terrorist attacks," underscoring the legal and political stakes of targeting a consumer platform. The Wildberries case is the clearest documented instance in the current conflict of a civilian e-commerce platform functioning as part of a military supply chain.

Nigeria's military and police rescued 308 people abducted from Kwara and Niger states on August 5, in what President Tinubu's office called the largest single-day rescue operation in Nigerian security history; Tinubu directed agencies to intensify early-warning and community intelligence systems. The operation reflects the scale of kidnapping networks operating across Nigeria's north-west, where bandit groups have been operating without formal ideological affiliation but with organised logistics.

Enforcement against Russia's shadow fleet is shifting from paper to the water: UK forces boarded a sanctioned tanker in the Channel and designated 27 more vessels plus insurers, under new interdiction powers. Physically seizing ships raises Russia's export costs and widens the discount on its crude, and reportedly diverted other tankers. Watch: whether other states adopt shadow-fleet interdiction; how the fleet reroutes in response; whether Western governments issue formal secondary sanctions against Wildberries for enabling drone sales; whether Russia restricts the platform's operating licence as political cover.

The global supply chains moving cocaine from South America's Andean coca zones to North American, European, and emerging markets, the defining geography of transnational organized crime.

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US offers more than US$100 million in rewards for eight leaders of Mexico's Jalisco New Generation Cartel, including a US citizen reported to head the group

The US Trump administration announced on August 5 a package of rewards totalling more than US$100 million targeting eight CJNG leaders; NBC News reports one of those targeted is a US citizen reportedly running the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, with a US$25 million bounty; Al Jazeera says the move is aimed at weakening CJNG leadership and increasing bounties under the administration's cartel pressure campaign

The Long Game ·3 takes ·Aug 7

Costa Rica arrests a suspect over a death threat against President Chaves as organised crime targeting of state officials widens

Costa Rican authorities arrested a suspect on 20 June 2026 over an alleged death threat against President Rodrigo Chaves Robles, the second such incident since January; InSight Crime has documented what it calls Costa Rica's worst narco corruption scandal, with judges, prosecutors, and police among officials bribed or threatened by criminal networks

What Broke ·5 takes ·Jul 3

Cocaine output at record highs as Ecuador's ports become the trade's superhighway

Global production topped 3,700 tonnes in the last UNODC count; Ecuadorian ports now move up to 80% of Europe's cocaine as Petro rejects UN monitoring

Whose Money ·12 takes ·Jun 25

US designates Brazil's PCC and Comando Vermelho as terrorist organisations, eight months after Paraguay's own classification

The US State Department designated Brazil's Primeiro Comando da Capital and Comando Vermelho as Foreign Terrorist Organisations and Specially Designated Global Terrorists on 28 May 2026, effective 5 June; Paraguay had already made the same designation in October 2025, and Argentina followed suit in June, triggering highest-level border alerts across the Triple Frontier region

Who Decides ·7 takes ·Jul 3

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