WCO-Led Bust Seizes 9.5 Tons of Illicit Drugs in Postal Parcels
More than 941 parcels containing drugs or precursor chemicals were seized in a customs enforcement operation targeting postal and express mail channels, the World Customs Organization said. Customs officials founds over 9.5 tons of illegal products, including cocaine, heroin, opium methamphetamines and anabolic steroids, it said.
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The WCO worked closely with China Customs on operation “Sky-Net,” which ran Sept. 10 -- Oct. 28 with the participation of 68 WCO members, five WCO regional intelligence liaison offices and the active support of INTERPOL, the WCO said. The operation sought to gather information on the status of trafficking in drugs and precursor chemicals being moved around the world in mail parcels, including the routes used, types of consignors and consignees, kinds of goods, declared values and methods of concealment. Analysing the data will help law enforcement authorities better respond to the risks posed by the postal and express freight sector, given the high volume of trade flows, the large number of operators and sub-contractors involve, and the limited information available to select potentially illicit items such as incorrect delivery addresses and so forth, it said.
That lack of quality information for customs risk purposes has concerned the WCO and its members, but a recent decision by the Universal Postal Union that provides a legal basis for postal services to transmit advanced electronic data to customs will greatly improve targeting efforts and lead to more secure trade, the WCO said.