₦airaland Forum

Heavy Trafficking

Saturday, March 14, 2009

Dublin -- THERE is a truly international makeup to the nationalities involved in trafficking cocaine into Ireland.

African, eastern European, Dutch and Irish feature highly, with a scattering of British, American and Germans.

But it’s the dominance of Africans, particularly west Africans, that is most stark.

For the last three years (for which there are figures available), Africans accounted for more than half of all people arrested for cocaine trafficking in 2005 and 2007 and 30% in 2006.

Of these, the single most prominent nationality is Nigerian. In 2005, they single-handedly accounted for half of those arrested. In the other two years it was closer to a third.

The trend highlights two things: the first, and most obvious, is the use of Nigerian and African nationals to smuggle drugs, often inside their body at great personal risk.

The other thing is the relatively sudden emergence of west African, namely Nigerian, gangs in the cocaine trafficking trade — a trend highlighted in a number of United Nations reports in recent years.

Michael Colgan is head of Customs Drugs Law Enforcement. Customs supplied the raw data from which the UN produced its data. (Garda figures are not included in the data for cocaine trafficking arrests).

Commenting on the high number of Nigerians, he said: “They are the people we are detecting. We’re not saying they are the people at the heart of trafficking. They are people tasked with running the load, acting as couriers or mules.”

He said the figures “would indicate there are gangs of that nationality involved” and that these gangs have an availability of fellow nationals to bear the risk of smuggling.

“They are often not [high] up the socio-economic ladder and may not have got a lot of money for undertaking what they’ve attempted to do.”

He said research on those arrested for trafficking, and the flights they’ve taken, allow Customs to target resources to those flights, and those people, who carry a higher risk.

“It helps us to narrow down from the many thousands of people arriving every day and narrow down those particular flights or those passengers who come from areas historically and have a proven high risk.”

The influence of Nigerian gangs does not end with their own, or neighbouring, people. UN reports have pointed out that west African gangs are using eastern Europe to supply cocaine into the main markets in western Europe.

A significant number of eastern Europeans have been arrested by Customs. In 2005, 7% of those arrested were Polish. In 2006, 10% were Polish and 17% were Estonian. In 2007, 9% of those arrested were Polish.

“Some eastern Europeans appear to be recruited by west African groups on account they have EU passports and are entitled to freedom of movement within the EU and would encounter less controls in terms of their movements,” said Mr Colgan.

The UN said trafficking has changed considerably since 2005. Before then, South American cartels were sending cocaine via the traditional routes, direct to Spain, Portugal and the Netherlands.

Because of greater law enforcement efforts there, they have diverted a large chunk of the massive shipments of cocaine to the west African coast, where security is low and governance is weak and corrupt. Now almost 30% of cocaine going into Europe comes from west Africa.

“There appears to be two parallel flows,” said the UN report, Drug Trafficking as a Security Threat in West Africa. “One, mainly involving large maritime and private air shipments, is owned and managed by South Americans.

“In exchange for logistic assistance with these shipments, west Africans are paid in cocaine.

“This has created a second flow, as west Africans also traffic these drugs to Europe, usually via commercial air flights.”

It said Nigerians accounted for most of those arrested off these flights. It said they were prominent in arrests figures for France, Austria, Italy, Ireland and Spain.

Lead author of the report, Ted Leggett, told the Irish Examiner that the use of couriers on commercial air flights was a favourite of west African drug trafficking networks worldwide.

“It basically gets handed back to Nigerians when it gets to Europe. Obviously there is a relationship with local organised crime groups. It would be very difficult for them to operate without the knowledge of local groups.”

He said Nigerian gangs worked across the world, in Brazil, South Africa, Russian, the US, Thailand and even places like Kyrgyzstan.

“They are very adaptable. They are very good at doing what they do. The way they succeed is by filling niches local people haven’t filled.”

Mr Leggett said Nigerian gangs were “not structured” and were essentially a “a bunch of entrepreneurs”, often engaged in both legal and illegal trades.

“They know somebody who knows somebody and know where they can get stuff. If someone gets arrested there’s plenty of people who can fill that person’s role. It’s networks, they have got people in places all around the world,” he added.

The looseness of the structure makes it more difficult for law enforcement, he said. They generally “keep a low profile” and don’t carry guns and were not particularly violent compared with other ethnic gangs.

He said new traffickers may start out couriering themselves until they earn enough money to sub-contract. “Better resourced networks can afford to field large numbers of couriers on the same flight, a technique known as the “shotgun approach”. The traffickers know that most airports have the capacity to detain only a limited number of suspects on any given flight. Losses are anticipated, and even planned, but the bottom-line remains viable.”

In Ireland, air is by far the most common means of trafficking.

In terms of volume seized, the bulk has been by sea.

As Ireland doesn’t have direct links with South America or west Africa, the couriers caught here are typically coming off flights from the European hub airports.

Mr Colgan said smuggling is done either by concealing cocaine, typically between 1kg and 3kg in size, on the person or in luggage, or by ingesting the drug, in sizes up to 1.2kg.

He said they have already noticed a trend this year in the number of couriers ingesting cocaine.

There have been six cases at Dublin Airport already, compared with eight last year.

“Even with the downturn in the economy we are seeing no diminution in the amount of cocaine being trafficked. The most marked trend in the first two months is the increase in the number of internal concealments.”

http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/idgbqlsney/

http://archives.tcm.ie/irishexaminer/2009/03/14/story86794.asp

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Hmmmmmm. . . . .

Hell no.

Scrambled, fried, or hard boiled.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMKKxaAwKvA&hl=en&fs=1[/flash]

Truly amazing!

Why are you advising Nigerians to live and study in Romania, when Romanians themselves are leaving the country for Western Europe?

Kid Cudi - Day n Night

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFPs3PVBtLg&hl=en&fs=1[/flash]

faakay:
GirlFriend - Bow Wow ft. Omarion

I used to like this song a lot when it came out. Good stuff.

hadexman:
Didn't you read his post?

Now he's trying to make himself look like the victim.

hadexman:
@ both morpheus24 and sucessful1. Where i come from or age doesn't matter and besides i live off campus. You two are not saying anthing reasonable for me to even give comment. So piss off!

hadexman:
I don't need your likeness, so you can go to hell.

Why are you cursing everyone here? Just because someone doesn't share the same opinion as you, you think that gives you the permission to talk to them like they're shit?!?!

I live in Los Angeles where this dance originated, and a lot of people who dance are now "Jerkin". I haven't really done it, but are there any naijas doing the "jerk"?

[flash=425,344]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niIHPoPQ6fk&hl=en&fs=1[/flash]

[flash=425,344]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSPDB2eo2dE&hl=en&fs=1[/flash]

Most of the time it's orange juice. I have to have something sweet in the morning to kill that morning taste, after that I brush my teeth.

sucessful1:
so sad to see on the news this morning that 25 9jerians living in ireland has been sent back to 9ja lastnite,the plane departed 10pm with 25 deportee's and some police officer to madrid where more deportee's are due to board on the same plane to lagos.

Boo hoo, cry me a river. I've read about how Nigerians have taken advantage of Irish generosity. Why do you think they changed their citizenship laws? I'm sure there is a story behind this, I remember reading about how Nigerians (who are only about one percent of the population) basically control the cocaine trade in that tiny Island! These types of people mess up the image of us honest, hard working Nigerians!

[center]https://img355.imageshack.us/img355/3130/2008sacramento004xu6.jpg
Sacramento

https://www.qrivy.net/albums/laskyline/IMG_5053.jpg
Los Angeles

https://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd187/denveraztec/Travels%20Outside%20CO/San%20Francisco%2001/06%20North%20Beach%20to%20Market/1120084.jpg
San Francisco

https://www.ronsaari.com/stockImages/sanDiego/sanDiegoSkyline1.jpg
San Diego

https://img98.imageshack.us/img98/9513/2008longbeach011fz9.jpg
Long Beach[/center]

I've been living in Los Angeles, California for almost 3 years now, and I'm from Lagos. I'm loving the California lifestyle, and all the diversity here! Where I live, it's possible to go to the beach, go skiing, and go atv riding all in one day! It's also possible for me to get an authentic taste of Mexico, experience the culture of Ethiopia, and party like I was in Thailand! So California nairalanders, check in and represent!

Not anytime soon. . . .

T-Nutty is pretty fast. I'm sure I'm the only one who has heard of this guy, here's one of his songs.

[flash=425,344]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67F9BQmMr5s&hl=en&fs=1[/flash]

I live in Los Angeles where this dance originated, and a lot of people who dance are now "Jerkin". I haven't really done it, but are there any naijas doing the "jerk"?

[flash=425,344]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niIHPoPQ6fk&hl=en&fs=1[/flash]

[flash=425,344]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSPDB2eo2dE&hl=en&fs=1[/flash]

My mum used to bang the shit out of our door in the morning!! If I we didn't wake, she would start banging on the wall!

This is sad.

Instead of wishing for Subway to expand into Nigeria, why don't we Nigerians come up with our own brand of fast food sandwich restaurants?

Subway is good and all, but I'd rather see a home grown, indigenous sandwich shop having locations all over naija, not some American chain.

Just my two cents.

tpiah:
Chipotle Mexican Grill isnt bad. Pocket friendly too.

http://www.chipotle.com/#/flash/food_menu

LMAO @ Chipotle!! Do you live on the East Coast? I always say people who live on the East Coast don't know REAL Mexican food.

****My Los Angeles Restaurant Reviews****

($) Veronica's Kitchen (Inglewood) - This Nigerian restaurant/market is very good. When going there, you have to keep an eye out because it's kind of tucked away. I recommend trying their maafe.

($) Diana's Mexican Food (Carson) - This place is the BOMB! It's kind of out of the way close to Long Beach, but it's worth the commute! Everything they serve is DELICIOUS. I recommend their chicken wet burrito.

($$ - $$$) Nyala (Little Ethiopia) - Best Ethiopian food in LA hands down. If you enjoy that Ethiopian experience, this is the place to go. If you find yourself there, I recommend the Doro Tibs. So good!

($$) M&M's Soul Food (Everywhere) - They have locations all over LA, and have the best Soul Food in the city. I like their greens, macaroni & cheese, and also their chicken & dumplings.

($ - $$) Buono's Pizza (San Pedro) - The pizza here is superb. They have the perfect balance of bread, sauce, and cheese. Their other dishes are good too. I recommend everything at this place.

($$ - $$$) Ngoma Restaurant (Mid City) - This place serves food from all over Africa. From West to East, North to South, they have it all. I like thier Chicken Sambusa alot.

$ = $1-8 per entree, $$ = $9-15 per entree, $$$ = $16+ per entree

So much more, so little time. . . .

lol

ikeyman00:
@@@ post

i think there is difference from some one that reside in ghana to one that paste pocket of pics from his base oversea!!

LOL, are you suggesting that just because you hear one account from one person it's automatically true? If so then boy are you daft. . . .

. . . . .as I said before, the pictures I posted weren't intended to draw a comparison between Nigeria and Ghana, they were posted for those people who say they have never seen Ghana (I think you were one of them).

ikeyman00:
i always say there are nigeria esply yorubas and igbos that will tell u they are nigerians but brought up in ghana, they should never be trusted!!

i think there is one here

Sometimes it's kind of difficult to understand what you're trying to say in your posts. . . . .

. . . . .this is one of those times.

Are the ultra liberal white people in Portland treating you bad, outlaws?

Excuses, excuses, and more excuses.

How long will we continue to use these same excuses to justify why Nigeria is in the state it is currently in? It's really getting old.

It's Europes fault, [s]no it's because we have so many ethnicities[/s], no it's because we have more religions, blah blah blah. . .

What is jus soli?

Jus soli is Latin for "right of the soil" or, "right of the territory", or more simply, birthright citizenship. It is a right by which nationality or citizenship can be recognized to any individual born in the territory of the related state.

States that observe jus soli include:

Antigua and Barbuda
Argentina
Azerbaijan
Barbados
Belize
Bolivia
Brazil
Canada
Chile (children of transient foreigners or of foreign diplomats on assignment in Chile only upon request)
Colombia
Dominica
Dominican Republic (Very somewhat, you should read how they treat Haitians)
Ecuador
El Salvador
Fiji
Grenada
Guatemala
Guyana
Honduras
Jamaica
Lesotho
Mexico
Nicaragua
Pakistan
Panama
Paraguay
Peru
Romania
Saint Christopher and Nevis
Saint Lucia
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Trinidad and Tobago
United States
Uruguay
Venezuela

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jus_soli

Kosovo? You're better off staying in Nigeria.