Focus on shipping in fight against drug smuggling
With unlimited financial resources, drug and most notably cocaine producers are finding novel ways to hijack legitimate supply chains, leading to a rise in drug busts at major US and European ports. Law enforcement is calling increasingly on shipping to increase security
FOLLOWING the September 2001 attacks on the US and the spread of the global terrorism threat, industry and government have partnered in supply chain security.
Secure operators under the US Customs Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (CTPAT) and the European Authorised Economic Operator (AEO) programmes benefit from reduced checks and green lanes. Participation has become a basic requirement in the global shipping market.
But a new threat emerges. With unlimited financial resources, drug and in particular cocaine traffickers and criminal organisations find novel ways to hijack legitimate supply chains, victimising many different carriers and shippers alike.
Exploiting gaps in shoreside supply chains, particularly in or around South American ports, traffickers’ methods such as ‘rip on, rip off’ threaten global shipping. This has led to a rise in drug seizures from containers at major US and European ports.
Recent drug seizures from vessel containers across the globe demonstrate that it is no longer just the traffickers who are in law enforcement’s sights. More and more, law enforcement, specifically customs authorities, are calling on the shipping sector to increase security even more as part of the evolution of customs trusted trader programmes.
The threat of suspension or withdrawal from these programmes is a powerful tool.
