Police cooperate to crack down on cocaine trade

Closer cooperation between federal and cantonal authorities resulted in a record haul of 560kg of cocaine last year.

This content was published on September 8, 2010 - 14:51

1 minute

The Federal Police Office says joint efforts with the cantonal police, customs and border guards are focusing on networks of criminal drug dealers from western Africa.

The aim is to make Switzerland unattractive for the trade in cocaine, a senior official told a news conference on Tuesday.

He added that the exchange of information between the different security forces and international police had led to the dismantling of several cocaine gangs.

Many of those arrested by security forces are asylum seekers from Nigeria, Guinea and Sierra Leone, as well as dealers from southeastern Europe, he said.

The federal criminal police, several cantons and the border guards launched a project for closer operation 18 months ago.

swissinfo.ch and agencies

What could Switzerland and the United States learn from each other today?

What could the two democracies learn from each other?

Join the discussion

Sep 5, 2024

16 Likes

24 Comments

View the discussion

What is the future of Swiss neutrality?

Is Swiss neutrality misunderstood? Or has the Swiss model of neutrality now become obsolete?

Join the discussion

Sep 13, 2024

84 Likes

56 Comments

View the discussion

What can be done to protect biodiversity in your country?

Swiss voters are set to decide on a people’s initiative calling for better protection of ecosystems in the country. Have your say on the September 22 vote.

Join the discussion

Aug 2, 2024

57 Likes

50 Comments

View the discussion

In compliance with the JTI standards

More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative

You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!

If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.

West African gangs “dominate” cocaine trade

This content was published on Mar 9, 2009 In February, a Lausanne court jailed two Nigerian asylum seekers working for a Togolese criminal group for smuggling cocaine into Switzerland and money laundering following a Europe-wide investigation known as “Inox”. In all, some 35 people have been arrested as part of the investigation, accused of smuggling 15 kilograms of cocaine from West Africa between…

A life devoted to helping drug addicts

This content was published on Nov 23, 2008 This four-pillar approach, which includes heroin substitution – a treatment he pioneered – was at first controversial. But Uchtenhagen tells swissinfo that the critics have been proved wrong. Voters will decide on November 30 whether this drugs policy should be part of Swiss law. In the 1980s pictures of Zurich’s open drugs scenes at “Needle…

Ethnic Albanians keep a grip on heroin supply

This content was published on Aug 26, 2008 Three members of the same Kosovo family are currently on trial in Switzerland accused of operating one of Europe’s largest heroin wholesale operations. Prosecutors say the 69-year-old father and his two sons, aged 42 and 28, used their base in the southeast European country to import 1.5 tons of heroin from Turkey for sale elsewhere.…

Przemysl – last stop in Schengen area

This content was published on Jul 30, 2010 Przemysl is a busy border post between Poland and Ukraine. Smuggling is a lucrative business in the region (Pictures: Alexander Künzle, swissinfo.ch)

Police cooperate to crack down on cocaine trade

Most Discussed

More

What could Switzerland and the United States learn from each other today?