OECD Policy brief ‘How Drug Traffickers Exploit Modern Trade Solutions’ flags criminals embed drugs across global supply chains, exploiting loopholes from free trade zones to maritime and parcel networks

The policy brief highlights that rising volumes of cocaine, fentanyl and other synthetic drugs are entering legitimate trade channels, where traffickers conceal shipments among vast flows of goods and exploit gaps in customs oversight, governance and enforcement. It concludes that countering these trade-based trafficking methods requires stronger international cooperation, improved risk-based screening in logistics and shipping systems, and closer public-private partnerships with transport and supply-chain actors…