DRUGS/SECURITY-AVIATION

A policeman patrols a market in central Timbuktu December 28, 2009. The fabled city is in the Sahel region of northern Mali. The area has become a stronghold for a franchise of Al Qaeda, and a hub for trafficking cocaine from South America by air, which is then smuggled onto Europe. ln 2008, an official at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security sent a report to his superiors detailing what he called «the most significant development in the criminal exploitation of aircraft since 9/11.» Picture taken December 28, 2009. To match feature DRUGS/SECURITY-AVIATION REUTERS/Tim Gaynor (MALI – Tags: TRANSPORT CRIME LAW SOCIETY)