Five African countries launch an initiative to fight against fake medicines trafficking

"Street medicines kill". Beyond this slogan displayed by a pharmacy in Dakar, the figures are staggering: 800,000 Africans die each year from street medicines. More...

Drug trafficking a growing threat to global peace, says UN Coordinator in Libya

11 march 2026 - 14:21:52

Tripoli, Libya (PANA)  - The Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General and UN Resident Coordinator in Libya, Ulrika Richardson, stated that “Drug trafficking is no [...] Full text...

Drug trafficking a growing threat to global peace, says UN Coordinator in Libya

11 march 2026 - 14:21:52

Tripoli, Libya (PANA)  - The Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General and UN Resident Coordinator in Libya, Ulrika Richardson, stated that “Drug trafficking is no [...] Full text...

Senior Libyan officials discuss plans to combat smuggling, drug trafficking networks

28 october 2025 - 12:40:47

Benghazi, Libya (PANA) - The Libyan Minister of the Interior of the Libyan eastern-based government, Major General Issam Abu Zriba, and the head of the [...] Full text...

Libya and Spanish embassy discuss creation of National Drugs Observatory

16 july 2025 - 12:33:49

Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - The Director of the Security Planning Department at the Libyan Ministry of the Interior of the Tripoli-based Government of National Unity, [...] Full text...

Nearly 316 million people used drugs in 2023-UN

27 june 2025 - 06:06:26

Vienna, Austria (PANA) - Amid growing global instability, the power of organised criminal groups has grown and drug use is now reaching unprecedented levels, the [...] Full text...

Drug traffickers running routes through war zones, top UN official warns

11 march 2025 - 08:07:36

Vienna, Austria (PANA) - A “new black market” for synthetics and drug trafficking through war zones are fuelling instability around the world, the chief of the UN [...] Full text...

‘War on drugs has failed, completely and utterly’: UN human rights chief

06 december 2024 - 05:10:40

Warsaw, Poland (PANA) - The UN human rights chief has called on leaders and international stakeholders to radically rethink global drug policy, stating that the [...] Full text...

12 kg of cocaine seized at Bamako international airport

25 july 2024 - 11:17:01

Bamako, Mai (PANA) - The Central Narcotics Office (OCS) at Bamako's Modibo Keita Sénou International Airport seized 12 kg of cocaine last Monday, PANA has [...] Full text...

World Drug Day report highlights spike in drug use, increased trafficking

26 june 2024 - 13:11:39

Vienna, Austria (PANA) - The UN agency tackling crime and drug abuse (UNODC) released its annual World Drug Report on Wednesday warning that there are [...] Full text...

WHO updates list of drug-resistant bacteria most threatening to human health

17 may 2024 - 18:51:30

Geneva, Switzerland (PANA) - The World Health Organization (WHO) Friday released its updated Bacterial Priority Pathogens List (BPPL) 2024, featuring 15 families of antibiotic-resistant bacteria [...] Full text...

Drugs online: UN-backed body offers solutions to counter narcotics surge

06 march 2024 - 07:01:52

Vienna, Austria (PANA) - Drug dealers have continued to use cutting-edge digital technology, social media platforms and disinformation to sell their illegal produce, fuelling narcotics [...] Full text...

Over 400 kg of drugs seized by police in Burkina Faso

05 january 2024 - 13:08:04

Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso (PANA) - The Anti-Drugs Unit of Burkina Faso's National Police announced on Friday that it had seized 435 wafers of cannabis weighing [...] Full text...

30-year-old Bolivian woman arrested in Mauritius with 2 kgs of heroin

14 november 2023 - 09:37:16

Port-Louis, Mauritius (PANA) – A Bolivian woman, Ercilia Parada Saucedo, 30, was arrested on Monday with a little over two kilos of heroin in her [...] Full text...

South African gets 20 years for importing drug to Mauritius

11 october 2023 - 07:40:12

Port-Louis, Mauritius (PANA) – A South African national, Gareth Gruen, has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for importing drugs into Mauritius, the local [...] Full text...

Meeting of Eastern and Southern Africa Commission on Drugs opens in Mauritius

10 august 2023 - 13:08:54

Pte-aux-Piments, Mauritius (PANA) – Mauritian Prime Minister, Pravind Jugnauth, on Thursday highlighted the importance of regional cooperation to the effective response to the different aspects of [...] Full text...

Mauritius launches campaign against drug dealers

09 august 2023 - 07:58:58

Port-Louis, Mauritius (PANA) - Mauritian Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth on Tuesday launched a National Campaign Against Drugs with the objectives of mobilising and creating awareness [...] Full text...

Libya approves drugs of narcotic compounds

07 july 2023 - 13:14:52

Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - The Libyan Ministers of Justice, Halima Abderrahman, and of the Interior, Imad Trabelsi, have approved a group of drugs added to [...] Full text...

5 kg of cocaine seized by Malian customs on the Mali - Guinea road link

02 june 2023 - 17:34:01

Bamako, Mali (PANA) - Malian customs, through its mobile intervention brigade (BMI) based in Bancoumana, in the circle of Kangaba, in the region of Koulikoro, [...] Full text...

Malian customs seize 5.2 kg of cocaine

29 may 2023 - 13:06:45

Bamako, Mali (PANA) - The Mali Customs Mobile Intervention Brigade (BMI) last week seized packets of cocaine weighing a total of 5.2 kilograms, with an [...] Full text...

Malian customs seize 5.2 kg of cocaine

29 may 2023 - 13:06:45

Bamako, Mali (PANA) - The Mali Customs Mobile Intervention Brigade (BMI) last week seized packets of cocaine weighing a total of 5.2 kilograms, with an [...] Full text...

Trafficking in the Sahel: Killer cough syrup and fake medicine (By UN News)

27 may 2023 - 14:14:52

Dakar, Senegal (PANA) - In the summer of 2022, 70 Gambian babies and young children died from kidney failure after ingesting cough syrup spooned out [...] Full text...

Mauritius to set up Regional Drug Observatory

19 may 2023 - 16:37:31

Port-Louis, Mauritius (PANA) - Mauritius is to set up a Regional Drug Observatory which would collect drug related data from member countries and publish regular [...] Full text...

Morocco elected to head International Narcotics Control Board

11 may 2023 - 15:08:45

Vienna, Austria (PANA) - Morocco was elected Wednesday at the headquarters of the United Nations Office in Vienna to the presidency of the International Narcotics [...] Full text...

Mauritian PM calls for neighbourhood watch on illegal activities Western Indian Ocean region

27 april 2023 - 09:24:48

Port-Louis, Mauritius (PANA) - Mauritian Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth on Wednesday called for the setting up of a neighbourhood watch to prevent the occurrence of [...] Full text...

Mauritius PM to 'disable' drug trafficking network

29 march 2023 - 08:02:47

Port-Louis, Mauritius (PANA) - Mauritian Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth on Tuesday reiterated the Government’s commitment to "demolish and disable" the drug trafficking network and ensure [...] Full text...

Fake medicines kill almost 500,000 sub-Saharan Africans a year: Report

02 february 2023 - 05:43:02

Dakar, Senegal (PANA) - Trafficked medical products kill almost half a million sub-Saharan Africans every year, and action is needed to stem the flow, the [...] Full text...

Two Mauritians jailed for drug trafficking

07 december 2022 - 08:05:06

Port-Louis, Mauritius (PANA) – The Supreme Court of Mauritius has jaild two Mauritians after finding them guilty of drug trafficking and importation, PANA reports on [...] Full text...

Libyan delegation attends workshop in Spain on Arab counternarcotics strategy

19 october 2022 - 19:12:29

Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - A delegation from the Libyan Ministry of Interior of the Government of National Unity participated in a workshop on the "Tenth [...] Full text...

Gambia suspends licence of importer of deadly Indian cough syrups

11 october 2022 - 10:37:49

Banjul, Gambia (PANA) - Gambian President Adama Barrow has authorised the Medicine Control Agency to suspend the licence of the pharmacy and importer of cough syrups [...] Full text...

Ugandan arrested with drugs in Mauritius

27 august 2022 - 09:57:33

Port-Louis, Mauritius (PANA) - A Ugandan, Yusuf Kayiwa Sseluyange, was arrested on 21 August, 2022 with 536 grams of heroin, hidden in his sandals, when [...] Full text...

British national gets 24 years in prison for drug trafficking in Mauritius

19 august 2022 - 07:39:16

Port-Louis, Mauritius (PANA) – A British national, Neil Hilton, has been sentenced by a Port-Louis court to 24 years in prison after pleading guilty to [...] Full text...

Guinea security forces seize large quantity of cocaine

04 august 2022 - 12:48:40

Conakry, Guinea (PANA) - Five Sierra Leoneans and one Guinean have been charged with possession of cocaine and belonging to an international drug trafficking ring after [...] Full text...

Kazakh national gets 32 years in prison in Mauritius for drug trafficking

03 august 2022 - 08:09:55

Port-Louis, Mauritius (PANA) - Ravil Khakimov, a 39-year-old Kazakh, has been sentenced to 32 years in prison, and fined 800,000 Mauritian rupees for drug trafficking. His [...] Full text...

Mauritius calls for inter-state collaboration to tackle drug trafficking in SADC region

02 august 2022 - 08:36:49

Port-Louis, Mauritius (PANA) – Mauritian Prime Minister, Pravind Jugnauth, on Monday said that drug trafficking recognises no boundaries and it requires extensive inter-State collaboration to [...] Full text...

Four Malawian, Zimbabwean women arrested with drugs in Mauritius

21 july 2022 - 07:28:07

Plaisance, Mauritius (PANA) – Two Malawian and two Zimbabwean women were arrested last week at Mauritius' international airport after pellets of heroin were found in [...] Full text...

Guinean, Mauritian arrested for alleged drug smuggling in Mauritius

06 july 2022 - 08:29:53

Port-Louis, Mauritius (PANA) – The Mauritius Anti-Drug Squad and Mauritian customs officers on Monday arrested a 41-year-old Guinean and a 26-year-old Mauritian for alleged drug [...] Full text...

Half of prisoners in Mauritius linked to drugs

05 july 2022 - 08:07:49

Port-Louis, Mauritius (PANA) - Annually, some 3,400 out of 7,000 prisoners, are linked to drugs due to a rise in drug trafficking, or crimes related [...] Full text...

Mali burns drugs worth 140 million CFA francs

28 june 2022 - 20:04:32

Bamako, Mali (PANA) - The Mali Central Narcotics Office (OCS) on Monday burned drugs valued at 140 million CFA francs seized in the regions of Sikasso, Koutiala [...] Full text...

UN drug report shines light on cannabis, cocaine and methamphetamine trends

28 june 2022 - 05:25:08

Vienna, Austria (PANA) - Legalised cannabis use in some countries and states appears to have accelerated daily use and related health impacts, the UN Office [...] Full text...

Libyan PM wants drug abuse curbed in Libya

11 june 2022 - 19:57:30

Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - The Libyan Prime Minister of the Government of National Unity, Abdelhamid al-Dbaiba, said that "the war on drug abuse will be [...] Full text...

About 30kg of cocaine seized in power plant west of Tripoli

20 may 2022 - 11:03:27

Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - About 30 kg of cocaine was seized during an inspection inside a power plant in Khoms, about 120 km west of [...] Full text...

Two Ugandan women carrying drugs in their stomachs arrested at Mauritius airport

13 may 2022 - 09:00:54

Plaisance, Mauritius (PANA) - The Mauritius Revenue Authority (MRA) last Friday arrested two Ugandan passengers carrying drugs in their stomachs, at the SSR International airport, [...] Full text...

Two passengers arrested with drugs at Mauritian airport

28 april 2022 - 07:51:32

Plaisance, Mauritius (PANA) - Two passengers, believed to be Nigerians, aged 38 and 46 years, were intercepted last Friday at the Plaisance international airport, southern [...] Full text...

Mauritian minister calls for further sensitisation of the youth against drugs

08 april 2022 - 07:46:16

Port-Louis, Mauritius (PANA) - Mauritius Health Minister Kailesh Jagutpal indicated on Thursday that among the 980 drug admissions registered in 2020, 538 were caused by [...] Full text...

Malian National Police seize 4.3kg of cocaine at Bamako-Sénou airport

25 february 2022 - 14:35:26

Bamako, Mali (PANA) - The Malian police seized during the night of 22 - 23 February at Bamako airport a suitcase from Paris containing 4.3 [...] Full text...

Huge quantity of drug seized in Bamako

14 february 2022 - 21:11:29

Bamako, Mali (PANA) – Malian national police have seized a package of several quantities of drugs, especially Indian hemp, police sources told PANA on Monday. The [...] Full text...

Mauritius declares war on drugs

11 february 2022 - 06:50:22

Port-Louis, Mauritius (PANA) – Mauritian Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth on Thursday declared a war on drugs, but said the Government cannot fight alone. “The magnitude of drug [...] Full text...

15 kg of cannabis resin, 1 kg of cocaine and narcotic tablets seized in Libya

27 january 2022 - 18:58:08

Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - At least 15 kg of cannabis resin, 1 kg of cocaine and 3,692 Tramadol tablets were seized in Libya during security [...] Full text...

Mauritius Customs staff arrest passenger carrying 1.4 kg heroin from Dubai

20 january 2022 - 13:01:09

Port-Louis, Mauritius (PANA) - The Customs Anti-Narcotics Section (CANS) of the Mauritius Revenue Authority (MRA) at the SSR International Airport in Mauritius last Saturday seized [...] Full text...

Record cocaine seizure in Niger en route to Europe via Libya

06 january 2022 - 21:31:27

Niamey, Niger (PANA) - The Nigerien police seized more than 214 kilograms of cocaine in northern Niger, a record, and arrested a mayor of this [...] Full text...