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Lyes Tagziria @lyestagziria.bsky.social · 1d

P.S. The quote above is by no means the most relevant or important detail of the story, but it made me chuckle.

Ft. niche Essex-related GIF below.

a man is sitting on a couch with the words do you know what i 'm saying below him

ALT: a man is sitting on a couch with the words do you know what i 'm saying below him

media.tenor.com

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Lyes Tagziria @lyestagziria.bsky.social · 1d

"The first organised criminal convicted of selling pink cocaine in the UK was also jailed last December. His main market was Essex, a consumer culture that seems almost ready-made for pink cocaine."

Great article by @maxdaly.bsky.social on the not-so-cocainey
cocaine increasingly common in the UK.

Why are kids snorting pink cocaine?

unherd.com

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Lyes Tagziria @lyestagziria.bsky.social · 21d

🇵🇸🇮🇱 UN commission has now concluded that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza...

...joining an already long list including the UN Special Rapporteur, the International Association of Genocide Scholars, Amnesty, MSF and Israeli civil society orgs.

Will Western governments finally now admit it too?

Israel has committed genocide in the Gaza Strip, UN Commission finds

GENEVA – Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, a...

www.ohchr.org

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Lyes Tagziria @lyestagziria.bsky.social · Sep 2

🇵🇸🇮🇱 "The world's leading association of genocide scholars has declared that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.

A resolution passed by the International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS) states that Israel's conduct meets the legal definition as laid out in the UN convention on genocide."

Israel committing genocide in Gaza, world's leading experts say

The world's leading association of genocide scholars cited several actions by Israel, including attacks on the healthcare sector and the killing of children.

www.bbc.co.uk

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Lyes Tagziria @lyestagziria.bsky.social · Jun 20

🇧🇯 Over the years, JNIM have been extending their influence & operations further and further south. And last week they attacked in Borgou department - the furthest south they have ever attacked.

See the thread below for details on JNIM operations in the Beninese border area with Nigeria ⬇️

Critical Threats Project @criticalthreats.bsky.social · Jun 20

NEW | Al Qaeda's Sahelian affiliate—JNIM—has likely operationalized rear support zones in northwestern Nigeria.

It has likely used these havens to open a second front in Benin and could use them to support attacks in Nigeria. 🧵

www.criticalthreats.org/analysis/uae...

Lyes Tagziria @lyestagziria.bsky.social · Jun 12

Very sad news.

"A one-man army, with a mission to save lives".

Peter Krykant: 'Beautiful, kind and courageous' drug policy campaigner found dead

Peter Krykant became a public figure in 2020 after setting up an unofficial safer drug consumption facility in a minivan.

news.sky.com

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Lyes Tagziria @lyestagziria.bsky.social · Jun 8

🇮🇱🇵🇸 “Lawyers I have spoken to believe that there is evidence that Israel followed war crimes, committed by Hamas when it attacked Israel, with very many of its own, including the crime of genocide.”

Israel is accused of the gravest war crimes in Gaza

Distinguished lawyers, senior humanitarians and diplomats tell Jeremy Bowen why they are increasingly concerned about the catastrophe inside Gaza.

www.bbc.co.uk

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Lyes Tagziria @lyestagziria.bsky.social · Jun 4

☀️ Sun
🏖️ Beach
🍺 Greek beer
📖 Light reading on fascism courtesy of @iandunt.bsky.social & @dorianlynskey.bsky.social

Can think of worse ways to spend your honeymoon!

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Lyes Tagziria @lyestagziria.bsky.social · May 13

📶 Very cool article in the GI-TOC West Africa Observatory's latest Risk Bulletin on the illicit trade in Starlink devices and their use by violent extremists and other armed groups in the Sahel

The shadow constellation: how Starlink devices are shaping conflict and crime in the Sahel.

Starlink satellite internet technology is a growing influence in conflict dynamics in the Sahel. Violent extremist groups, including Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) and Jama’at Nasr al-Isla...

riskbulletins.globalinitiative.net

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Lyes Tagziria @lyestagziria.bsky.social · May 3

Setting aside the argument that political parties should act according to some principles rather than just vote-chasing, point number 2 is key: moving right on immigration to win back votes from the far right *does not work*.

Tarik Abou-Chadi @tabouchadi.bsky.social · May 2

Given the local election results in the UK, a short #thread - based on much of our own research - on the vicious cycle of radical right support that we have seen in many countries.
1) When radical right parties (such as Reform) are electorally successful established parties move right on immigration

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Reposted by Lyes Tagziria

Max Daly @maxdaly.bsky.social · Mar 26

I wrote a piece about ketamine, and why Gen Z are into it

unherd.com/2025/03/ket-...

Ket is numbing Gen Z's pain

unherd.com

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Lyes Tagziria @lyestagziria.bsky.social · Mar 18

📈 Just yesterday, the UK Home Office published the findings from its most recent wastewater analysis used to measure illicit drug consumption.

It found that between 2023 and 2024, ketamine consumption increased by 85%, the most of any drug included.

www.gov.uk/government/p...

Wastewater analysis: Measuring illicit drug consumption in 2023 and 2024

www.gov.uk

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Lyes Tagziria @lyestagziria.bsky.social · Mar 18

📈 One of the key findings from the GI-TOC's most recent European Drug Trends Monitor was that ketamine is becoming increasingly popular in Europe.

Cheaper than cocaine and with higher purity levels, ketamine is widely available in cities across the continent.

globalinitiative.net/analysis/eur...

European Drug Trends Monitor

European drug markets are undergoing considerable changes, triggered by the confluence of several major trends in supply and demand. These include an oversupply of cocaine, a growing crack epidemic, s...

globalinitiative.net

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Lyes Tagziria @lyestagziria.bsky.social · Mar 13

🇪🇺 "Malgré une répression renforcée dans les grands ports européens, la cocaïne continue d’inonder le marché. Les trafiquants s’adaptent : au lieu d’abandonner, ils déplacent leurs routes [...]. Résultat : moins de saisies, mais une disponibilité toujours aussi élevée."

GI-TOC / Daniel Brombacher

Drogues en Europe : la répression pousse le trafic à s’adapter

Malgré une répression renforcée dans les grands ports européens, la cocaïne continue d’inonder le marché. Les trafiquants s’adaptent : au lieu d’abandonner, ils déplacent leurs routes vers des ports s...

www.corruptoscope.fr

Lyes Tagziria @lyestagziria.bsky.social · Mar 5

📈 If a full-blown trade war broke out, gold would be the best performing asset. This means that more people will try to get hold of it, says Marc Ummel, head of unit raw materials at Swissaid, “with more illegal mining and increased conflict linked to gold”.

www.tortoisemedia.com/2025/03/04/t...

Trump’s tariffs are driving up the price of gold

Investors’ search for a safe haven means illegal mining is more lucrative than ever

www.tortoisemedia.com

Lyes Tagziria @lyestagziria.bsky.social · Mar 3

🗣️ 'Arms are a force accelerator for all illicit markets - fundamentally, the ability to use violence is one of the primary means by which criminal groups exert control.'

🔫 GI-TOC's Deputy Director Tuesday Reitano explains why we have been focusing on European criminal markets, in particular arms.

The Illicit Arms Market in Europe | Tuesday Reitano

YouTube video by Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime

www.youtube.com

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Lyes Tagziria @lyestagziria.bsky.social · Feb 28

🇮🇹 What does the recent police operation against the Cosa Nostra tell us about the current state of the Sicilian mafia?

'Many experts have argued that [its] heyday is over. However, [new information suggests] the Sicilian mafia appears to be more resilient than ever and may well be set to flourish.'

Palermo strikes back

On 11 February 2025, Italian police carried out a major operation in Palermo, Sicily, targeting key mafia districts. With 1 200 officers deployed in the city and surrounding areas, and aerial surveill...

globalinitiative.net

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Lyes Tagziria @lyestagziria.bsky.social · Feb 28

🌎 ‘The Trump administration’s blanket suspension of foreign aid & apparent disdain for environmental policies indicates a disregard for the socioeconomic factors driving OCG expansion & irregular migration in LatAm, which is likely to ensure their continuity & proliferation.‘

- @rusi.bsky.social

How Trump’s Environment and Aid Policies Undermine His Latin America Agenda

While Latin America has featured prominently in the new US administration’s foreign policy, the suspension of vital aid and censoring of official discussion on climate change are directly at odds with...

rusi.org

Lyes Tagziria @lyestagziria.bsky.social · Feb 27

New GITOC report ⬇️

'Policing of mature drug markets has little overall effect on the supply of drugs within those markets. Additional enforcement, while important for other reasons, such as removing corrosive criminal actors, appears to have no clear impact on overall drug availability.'

Evaluating Cocaine Market Interventions: How External Shocks and Disruption of Criminal Networks Impact the Cocaine Trade and Social Outcomes

This report looks to evaluate the eﬀects of drug market enforcement, and broader external disruptions, through case studies (Sky ECC in the Netherlands, criminal gangs in Ireland, criminal gangs in Ca...

globalinitiative.net

Lyes Tagziria @lyestagziria.bsky.social · Feb 25

⚠️ ‘The influx of cheap, addictive and very harmful synthetic drugs in a region with poorly prepared health systems and a very young population is a clear sign of lasting emerging drugs problem in the region'

What needs to be done?

1️⃣ Evidence-based action
2️⃣ Supply chain disruption
3️⃣ Harm mitigation

Kush in Sierra Leone

Since 2022, a synthetic drug known as ‘kush’, has killed likely thousands of people in West Africa. Kush emerged in Sierra Leone, but quickly spread across countries in the subregion, including Liberi...

globalinitiative.net

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Lyes Tagziria @lyestagziria.bsky.social · Feb 25

🌐 The United Kingdom, the Netherlands and China are all implicated in the transnational trafficking of both pre-processed Kush and the precursor ingredients.

Crucially, criminal networks rely on a strongly localized protection system, but some appear to have also infiltrated state-embedded actors.

International trafficking routes for Kush, including both the pre-processed Kush and its active ingredients and other components.

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Lyes Tagziria @lyestagziria.bsky.social · Feb 25

🆕 Really important new GI-TOC/Clingendael report on Kush has just been published!

A deadly drug containing either synthetic cannabinoids or the extremely potent nitazenes, Kush's epicentre is Sierra Leone -where likely thousands have died - but it has also spread to neighbouring countries.

Kush in Sierra Leone

Since 2022, a synthetic drug known as ‘kush’, has killed likely thousands of people in West Africa. Kush emerged in Sierra Leone, but quickly spread across countries in the subregion, including Liberi...

globalinitiative.net

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Reposted by Lyes Tagziria

Nicola Kelly @nicolakellywrites.bsky.social · Feb 18

Though far from perfect, we could learn a thing or two from Spain.

"Migration was not only a question of humanity but... where birthrate ranked among the lowest in the EU, it was the only realistic means of growing the economy and sustaining the welfare state."

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/f...

How Spain’s radically different approach to migration helped its economy soar

As immigration has increased, GDP has surged and unemployment has fallen to lowest level since 2008

www.theguardian.com

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Lyes Tagziria @lyestagziria.bsky.social · Feb 17

🇳🇬 HumAngle consistently producing quality journalism on the terror reigning in northern Nigeria at the hands of bandits and, in the story below, violent extremist group ISWAP.

“Over the years, ISWAP had shifted from mindless destruction to calculated economic exploitation. Kaka knew this well.”

ISWAP’s ‘Tax’ System is Bleeding Farmers Dry in Northeastern Nigeria

Farmers must pay ISWAP fees for planting and harvesting, with receipts as proof of payment kept under ISWAP's control.

humanglemedia.com

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Reposted by Lyes Tagziria

Jason Eligh @jeligh.bsky.social · Feb 7

My new piece for Global Initiative on the emergent fentanyl geopolitics between Canada and the US is out today.

Anna Rosenberg @annairosenberg.bsky.social · Feb 7

Our latest analytical insight, co-authored by @jeligh.bsky.social, on the dispute between traditionally good neighbours, how much #fentanyl entering the #US comes from #Canada and how this presents an opportunity for more effective action on organized crime. ⬇️

globalinitiative.net/analysis/neg...

How fentanyl has poisoned relations between the US and Canada

Canada is not a ‘big player’ in the fentanyl trade: well under 1% of the fentanyl entering the US comes from Canada. In fact, fentanyl from Canada is not even mentioned as a drug trafficking threat to...

globalinitiative.net

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