It was recently reported on the UK’s BBC Newsbeat programme that large amounts of illegal drugs are being delivered unknowingly by UK postal workers with few checks.

Newsbeat reported that “For several months we have been investigating drugs in the post bought on the dark web. We heard that "millions of pounds of drugs are bought online every day" via the hidden layer of the internet where dealers can sell drugs anonymously.”

Newsbeat spoke to delivery staff who said they had "definitely handled suspect packages" but there was "nothing they could do".

In the US, the problem may be even worse. It was reported in the San Diego Union Tribune that in 2016, Postal Service inspectors seized mail containing more than 37,000 pounds of illegal drugs and $23.5 million in suspected drug-trafficking proceeds nation-wide. Of that, about 36,000 pounds was marijuana. If one assumes that the proportion of seized goods is only a fraction of what is sent by mail, then the problem is a huge.

Tony Verachtert will deliver a keynote presentation at the World Border Security Congress in Morocco in March, emphasising the role of the Pompidou group in drug policy and on the emerging trends of drug trafficking by mail and express mail and risks of drugs transport via general aviation.

The World Border Security Congress is co-hosted by the Ministiere de l'Interieur (Moroccan Ministry of Interior) and Directeur de la Migration et de la Surveillance des Frontiers (General Directorate for Migration and Border Protection) and takes place in Casablanca, Morocco on 21st-23rd March 2017.

Experts, policy makers and practitioners from around the world are expected to gather in Morocco to discuss the issues at the first World Border Security Congress to be held in North Africa.