SHOTLIST:

1. Various of drug seizure in Peru
2. Various of drug seizure in Argentina
3. Various of money from drug trafficking
4. Various of police operations against drug traffickers in Argentina
5. Various drug trafficking in Mexico
6. Various of police operations against drug traffickers in Argentina
7. Various drug trafficking in shoes in Argentina

STORYLINE:


The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (Unodc) assures that the measures of the different countries in the world to contain the pandemic of COVID-19 have caused the interruption of the routes of traffic of aerial and terrestrial drugs.

In the case of methamphetamine, which tends to be smuggled between continents by air more than other drugs, restrictions on air travel are likely to have a drastic effect on this charge.

However, cocaine, which is commonly trafficked by sea, continues to detect large cargoes in European ports in the months leading up to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In Argentina, the cases initiated for crimes related to drug crime in the country during the first half of this year fell by half compared to the same period in 2018 and 2019, and for experts this is due to the implementation of isolation social due to the coronavirus decreed last March, reported the Narco-crime Prosecutor's Office (Procunar).

According to a report, from January to June of this year, 4,749 cases related to drug crimes were initiated, while in 2019, in the same period there were almost double (8,168 cases) and in 2018 more than double (10,732 cases).

On the other hand, two Latin American countries have found an original way to get some of these extra resources to fight the pandemic.

Argentina and Colombia use assets seized from drug trafficking and other criminal activities to shore up their health systems in the face of the virus's advance.

From cars to buildings that belonged to suspected criminals, they are used to transport or house coronavirus patients, or to isolate people at risk due to the pandemic.

This is possible thanks to a legal figure called "extinction of domain", which applies to assets allegedly acquired illegally. Basically, it allows the ill-gotten belongings of people accused of crimes such as drug trafficking, money laundering, human trafficking, terrorism or corruption to be made available to the State.

Seizures of cocaine, methadone, fentanyl, heroin, cannabis and methamphetamine in the United States increased 44 percent between March and May, after the border closure due to the pandemic, according to figures from the Customs and Border Protection Office (CBP).

But rising prices and demand made up for losses, and the monetary equation was unchanged. Americans contribute between 120 and 145 billion dollars a year to Mexican cartels.