July 2009 Archives

In West Africa, a new United Nations initiative aims to organize crime fighters against organized crime.

In addition to the flow of cocaine passing though West African coastal ports en route from Latin America to Europe, the region is home to black-market trades in counterfeit medicine, stolen oil, human beings and small arms, as well as the dumping of toxic and electronic wastes, according to a regional report released by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime this month.

It's a sunny spring afternoon, and a handful of residents are spending time on the stoop of Jasmine Court, on the corner of 138th Street and Bruckner Boulevard. Trucks rumble on and off the expressway. Pedestrians hurry past.

Laura Barksdale, 52, says she sits outside because she likes to watch the people go by. But she acknowledges Port Morris is not the most comfortable place to hang out outdoors.

"There's nowhere to relax and sit around," she said. "There's nowhere to go."