As their patrols fanned out and outposts grew and hardened, the Marines did not want to be seen as a foreign constable service guarding an illicit drug zone, especially if the crop underwrote the insurgents who were firing on them and planting hidden bombs.
Warlords were given strategic command posts, rebel zone commanders controlling the illicit cocoa and cashew nut trade gained political strength, and, according to the UN panel of experts report (pdf), "their warlord-style economic activities" continued.
Within 10 days of the U.N. Security Council voting a resolution mandating the protection of Libya's civilians, policing of a no-flight zone, and prevention of illicit arms transfers by air and sea, NATO took command of a significant force of dozens of ships and hundreds of airplanes and commenced military operations.
But one would be naïve to think that either illicit or binge drinking in combat zones would cease.
The National Rifle Association is stepping up its opposition to a UN treaty aimed at halting the illicit trade of guns into conflict zones, after months of silence on the issue believed to be due to its focus on domestic gun control.
After all, the war in eastern Ukraine has ncreased the risk of a huge, illicit arms market burgeoning around the volatile conflict zone.
This article identifies special economic zones (SEZs), particularly free trade zones, as a key conduit for this illicit trade.
Illicit trade and crime have created a no-go zone, splitting the heart of Athens in half.
Among other duties, the Blue Helmets are being trained to transfer art and other pieces of cultural heritage to safe zones where possible, to prevent looting and illicit trafficking of stolen goods.
Georgia and Moldova complain that these areas have become centers of smuggling, illicit arms trading, human trafficking and drug dealing -- lawless zones that we now recognize as potential havens for terrorism, too.
