Latest news with #drugproduction
Forbes
10-07-2025
- Politics
- Forbes
Targeting Drug Trade In Yemen Won't Bring Houthis To Heel, Experts Say
A Yemeni security member guards during a destruction of narcotic drugs, seized in past 6-month of ... More this year, during a destruction ceremony to commemorate International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, on June 26, 2022 in Sana'a, Yemen. Security authorities run by Yemen's Houthi movement in Sana'a, burned and destroyed over than 40 tons of confiscated narcotics and some two million captagon pills, in the International Day Against Drug, staged by the United Nations annually on June 26 to raise awareness of the major problem that illicit drugs and its affects on the society. (Photo by) Getty Images Israel has once again executed long-range airstrikes targeting ports in Houthi-controlled parts of Yemen in an attempt to pressure the group economically. However, as with preceding airstrikes over the past year, this latest attack did not deter the Houthis from retaliating by firing ballistic missiles at Israel. Consequently, some in Israel believe it needs to adopt a different strategy to economically pressure the group, such as targeting its drug production. Overnight July 6-7, 20 Israeli fighter jets dropped over 50 munitions on key Yemeni ports, including Hodeidah and the Ras Khatib power station. The jets also targeted the Galaxy Leader, a commercial vessel the Houthis hijacked back in November 2023. The Houthis again attempted to hit Israel's Ben Gurion Airport with a ballistic missile in response as part of what it called a 'qualitative military operation' on Thursday. Israel's air defense foiled that attack. The Houthis also sank two commercial vessels in the Red Sea, actions that do not suggest that Israeli airstrikes are deterring them. They have repeatedly declared that they will only cease targeting Israel once there is a ceasefire in Gaza. Since the Israeli Air Force first targeted the Houthis in July 2024 in retaliation to a fatal drone strike on Tel Aviv, it has invariably bombed economic-related targets in a bid to pressure the Houthis to relinquish their attacks. Interestingly, the Israeli newspaper Israel Hayom highlighted the Houthis involvement in the Captagon drug trade following Israel's latest strikes, hinting that it could become a future target for Israel. Dubbed the 'poor man's cocaine,' Captagon is an 'amphetamine-type stimulant' that was widely smuggled across the region, particularly Saudi Arabia and the wealthy Arab Gulf countries, by the former regime of Bashar al-Assad in Syria. The sale of Captagon made up the vast majority of the Assad regime's income in the latter years of its rule, effectively turning Syria into a narco-state. Caroline Rose, the director of the Crime-Conflict Nexus and Military Withdrawals portfolios at the New Lines Institute, has conducted diligent research on the Captagon trade in the Mediterranean and Persian Gulf regions and briefed governments and intelligence agencies on the topic. 'It's clear that there has been a shift in Captagon trafficking through Yemen, though the volume of traffic still is largely along Saudi Arabia's border with Jordan and via major maritime ports,' Rose told me. 'There is most certainly an economic incentive for criminal and armed actors, such as the Houthis, to try and exploit this new 'vacuum' in production that was left behind by the Syrian regime, taking advantage of a slight increase in pill prices,' she said. 'However, I don't expect that actors in Yemen have the capacity to build up production operations to the level of what we've seen seized in Douma, Yarfur, Mazzeh, Latakia, and other former regime-held areas.' Border authorities in Yemen announced in June that they had busted an attempt to smuggle 1.5 million pills from Yemen's Houthi-controlled capital city, Sanaa, to Saudi Arabia. Mohammed Al-Basha of the Basha Report, a Virginia-based Risk Advisory, noted that 'the first confirmed evidence' of Captagon production in Yemen was revealed in Yemen in June by the Security Director of Aden, General Mutahar Al Shuaibi. Unlike Sanaa, the port city of Aden remains under the control of Yemen's internationally recognized government. 'According to Al Shuaibi, intelligence sources identified a Captagon manufacturing facility located in the Houthi-controlled Mahweet governorate,' Al-Basha told me. 'He likened the site to drug factories previously uncovered in Syria and urged Saudi Arabia to provide immediate support in combating the rapidly growing drug trade. He warned that Yemen has become a key transit corridor for narcotics flowing into Saudi Arabia.' 'Given the high level of security in Houthi-held areas, such a facility could not be operating without the Houthis either deliberately ignoring it or actively profiting from it.' New Line's Rose estimates that the Captagon trade in Yemen remains 'quite small' compared to other hubs for production and trafficking in the region. However, she wouldn't rule out Israel 'seeking to double down' on whatever evidence of drug smuggling or production it can find, noting that recent Israeli press articles 'indicate a baseline interest and intrigue' in the illicit Houthi drug trade. 'I think that after such a concerted effort by Israel, the U.S., and partner countries to degrade Houthi capabilities (and largely unsuccessfully) over the last two years, it's possible that Israel could deem any Houthi facility or asset suspected of being used for drug production/trafficking as a military target,' she said. The potential targeting of another drug industry in Yemen has already been suggested in a January 2025 article in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz. Yossi Melman, the paper's intelligence and strategic affairs correspondent, highlighted the 'treasured habit' of chewing Khat leaf in Yemen, which also gives the consumer an amphetamine effect. He suggested that targeting Khat crops could become a 'game changer' against the Houthis. However, he also noted that similar American efforts to destroy coca crops by air in Colombia utterly failed. 'In Yemen, since khat is mainly for personal use at home, there is a chance that if the people are deprived of the leaf, they may rebel against the Houthi leadership, which might be forced to come to terms with Israel: Stop destroying khat crops in exchange for halting the missile fire on Israel,' Melman wrote. Of course, none of this necessarily means Israeli fighters will soon end bombing runs against Yemeni ports in favor of dropping bombs or defoliant on Yemen's Khat crops. Al-Basha doubts such a move would 'alter the Houthis' mindset,' noting that the group 'withstood' eight years of Saudi-led bombing and the more recent 51-day American Rough Rider air campaign earlier this year. Additionally, any serious attempt to destroy Yemeni Khat production could ultimately backfire. 'In theory, targeting Khat farms may disrupt parts of the local economy, but Khat remains a key cash crop supporting the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands,' Al-Basha said. 'Damaging this source of income may only drive more people into the arms of the Houthis, both as a means of economic survival and as retaliation.'
BBC News
31-05-2025
- General
- BBC News
Two men jailed after cannabis worth £500,000 found in Hertford
Two men have been jailed after cannabis estimated to be worth more than £500,000 was discovered at a Police found the drug in a building in Mimram Road, Hertford, on 9 April following reports of suspicious Makaj, 35, and Bylbyl Nezaj, 36, both pleaded guilty to the production of a Class B were both sentenced to three years imprisonment at St Albans Crown Court on 20 May. When officers arrived at the property, the men attempted to escape through the roof but were arrested and taken into police building had been converted into a cannabis factory and its power supply had been tampered with "dangerously", said Hertfordshire Police. Det Con Charlotte Bell, from the East Herts Local Crime Unit, said: "Cannabis factories, in particular, pose a significant risk to those living close by, as criminals often seek to access free electricity and set up unsafe wiring to power the lamps and fans needed to grow the plants."They will often knock down walls and block off ventilation to prevent the smell escaping, causing damp and structural damage which can affect adjoining properties."She added: "All drugs and the criminality associated with their use and supply can have devastating effects on local communities."They are often linked to acquisitive crime, such as burglary and theft, as well as violent offences, which leave innocent residents living in fear." Follow Beds, Herts and Bucks news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
Bloomberg
15-05-2025
- Health
- Bloomberg
Hospitals Could Make More Drugs In-House Under Trump Proposal
The Trump administration wants to bring the production of more drugs, including medicines like antibiotics that may be in short supply, closer to the patient — including inside the hospital. The partnership between some of the nation's top health agencies and a handful of companies, including the Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company, is intended to use artificial intelligence and other tools to make eight drugs in the places where people actually get medical care. The treatments include generic drugs such as levetiracetam, which treats epilepsy, the local anesthetic lidocaine, the chemotherapy carboplatin, albuterol sulfate for asthma and the antibiotic linezolid.
BBC News
14-05-2025
- BBC News
Two men jailed for roles in Peterhead nightclub cannabis farm
Two men have been jailed after a "sophisticated" £777,000 cannabis farm was discovered in a former nightclub in an Aberdeenshire production operation was found in the former Deja Vu venue in Peterhead in September last nationals Iraldo Sarasellil and Ronaldo Abazi, both 26, admitted their involvement at Peterhead Sheriff Court. Sarasellil was jailed for a total of four years, and Abazi for three-and-a-half years. Fiscal depute Ruaridh McAllister, prosecuting for the Crown, said the premises in question was a vacant nightclub that had previously been a said police received intelligence that a cannabis cultivation was forced entry through a fire door, and found two levels were being used for the "sophisticated" two-level set-up, with lighting, ventilation and electricity former nightclub dancefloor and the former cinema section of the building had been turned over to the cultivation of the was found inside while Sarasellil was detained while trying to escape through a window. Hundreds of plants A total of 960 cannabis plants were found as well as a large number of lamps, switchboards and fiscal depute said the maximum potential value of the drugs was £777, and Abazi both admitted producing cannabis and being concerned in its supply. Sarasellil further admitted that in July last year he had knowingly entered the UK in breach of a deportation order by an illegal small boat crossing from France, contrary to the Immigration Act. Sarasellil's defence solicitor, Iain Jane, said he had initially come to the UK illegally as he wanted to start a new life, but was was in debt and was offered the opportunity to return but had suspicions about the type of work that would be said the production of the cannabis was underway when he arrived. Abazi had told officers he was not involved in trafficking, but was just watering the cannabis solicitor, Sam Milligan, said he had no previous convictions, and described Abazi as being "at the base of the pyramid". Both men said they had faced threats to get them Annella Cowan said the potential value of the drugs had to be jailed Sarasellil for a total of four years, including six months for the deportation breach, with Abazi sentenced to three-and-a-half years.
Yahoo
10-05-2025
- Yahoo
A whiff of suspicion leads to 700 cannabis plants in old bank building
Enterprising criminals have cashed in on the closure of a town centre bank. They took over the premises and converted it into a cannabis factory. Police were tipped off abour suspicious activity at a former bank on Chestergate, Macclesfield. A caller reported witnessing men entering the disused building, along with a strong smell of cannabis in the area. Officers discovered about 700 cannabis plants, all at varying stages of growth, along with heat lighting, fans, irrigation systems, which were spread over three floors. READ MORE: Police put ENTIRE Greater Manchester borough under immediate 24-hour order after tip-off READ MORE: Met Office latest for Greater Manchester as parts of UK set for thunderstorms A 43-year-old man was also arrested on suspicion of being concerned in the production of a class B drug. He remains in police custody at this time. Chief Inspectoe Zoe Bowden, Head of Macclesfield Local Policing Unit, said: 'This is another great result which demonstrates the value of intelligence from the public. As a result of the information provided, not only have we removed a significant quantity of cannabis the streets of Macclesfield, but we've also arrested a man for producing illegal drugs. 'The supply and use of illegal drugs has an incredibly negative impact on the community, and our fight against this type of behaviour is never over. We will continue to do all we can to put a stop to this activity. 'I urge anyone with any information about suspected drug related activity in their community to get in touch. You will be listened to, and we will investigate the matter.'
